Milk production has soared to record levels in Manitoba in the wake of a growing demand for more locally produced dairy products such as cheese and butter.
“We’re roughly at 950,000 litres (of milk) per day, and we expect that as we come into spring, we should hit a million litres per day,” Dairy Farmers of Manitoba chairman David Wiens said.
“For our province… that is a record-breaker.”
Until 18 months ago, Wiens said, milk production in Manitoba used to rise by about one to two per cent per year. But since then, it has jumped by more than seven per cent. And because quota increases are divided among all dairy producers, they’ve all had a chance to benefit from the increased demand, he added.
The healthy state of the local industry is one of the reasons Richard and Carol Boonstoppel recently sold their dairy farm in New Brunswick and bought a bigger one in southern Manitoba.
Richard Boonstoppel said several of their children are interested in becoming dairy farmers, and the 55-cow operation they had in New Brunswick wasn’t going to be big enough to support all of them. They also knew it would be difficult and costly to expand their operation or to acquire another one in their home province, which has about 200 dairy farms compared with more than 300 in Manitoba.
“So we started looking west, and we settled on Manitoba because there seems to be a good opportunity for farming here, and we liked the area and… open spaces. There are also a few more opportunities (to acquire an existing farm) here, and accessibility to (milk) quotas is still relatively good.”
Boonstoppel said they were also impressed with the vibrancy of Manitoba’s dairy industry.
“There seems to be a lot of excitement, and accessibility to services is also good compared to what were used to. So I feel very comfortable with my kids starting here.”
The Gruthal-area farm they took possession of last week has about 75 dairy cows. But they plan to install some robotic milking equipment in their barn, Boonstoppel said, which means they’ll likely try to boost their herd to around 100 cows.
Wiens, who lives down the road from the Boonstoppels, said one of the main reasons for the increase in milk production is a growing demand for cheese and butter made from 100 per cent Canadian-produced milk or dairy ingredients.
He said health-conscious consumers got the ball rolling, and food processors, retailers and even restaurants and other food-industry players have since piled onto the bandwagon.
“These retailers and food-service operators are hearing from their customers that it matters to them where their food comes from and they’re also increasingly looking for more natural goods,” he explained.
“So that’s exactly what this is about.”
Wiens said consumers are becoming more adventurous when it comes to trying new types of cheese, and the cheese processors and retailers are responding to that trend by expanding their product offerings.
A spokesman for Manitoba’s largest cheese processor — New Bothwell’s Bothwell Cheese — said the company’s sales have grown by 50 per cent in the last three to four years.
He also attributed that to a growing demand for cheese products made exclusively from local or Canadian-produced milk.
“Consumers… are looking (more closely) at ingredients in the food they consume,” sales and marketing director Mike Raftis explained.
He said some other processors use modified milk ingredients to reduce costs. However, Bothwell only uses fresh, locally produced milk because most modified milk ingredients are imported and can contain synthetic hormones and antibiotics, he said, while Canadian-produced milk does not.
Raftis also agreed more consumers are seeking unique and innovative flavours of cheese, which is why Bothwell makes 25 varieties, compared with 10 to 15 a decade ago.
“And as consumer demand for local and natural products continues to increase, we expect the demand for our products to follow suit,” he added.
A spokesman for a local cheese retailer — Piazza De Nardi — said it’s also seen a steady increase in sales of specialty cheese during the last few years.
“There is an increased demand for speciality cheese at our store, and it’s all across the board, from blues to washed rind to goat to sheep’s milk (cheese),” Tom De Nardi said.
“As people travel more, they come into contact with different types of products and different cooking ideas. And certainly as far as we’re concerned, we’re seeing it at the cash register.”
He said consumers are also learning about different varieties of cheese — Piazza De Nardi carries from 200 to 400 varieties, depending on the season — through the Internet, social media and cooking classes.
“Everything like that has totally contributed to it,” he added.
Source: Winnipeg Free Press