People are spouting off about farmers dumping milk again, so, I guess we need to do this. Again.

Milk is a perishable good with a finite demand. The idea that excess production could be used to drop the price of dairy is a fallacy for this reason.

The cost of producing milk, because of Canadian Standards (which are among the most stringent in the world), is very high. If the price were to drop, farmers would have to be able to produce more to make the same profit.

The problem is, most farmers don't have the capacity to produce more. For the most part, dairy farms in Canada are not large corporate businesses. They are smaller, family concerns. They lack the capital resources to increase production to profitable levels at a lower price.

The Milk Board allows small farmers to exist by guaranteeing a price that allows them to make a profitable living from their product. Eliminating the Milk Board is anti-small farm, pro-corporate policy.

Most people are unaware, but most grocery stores sell milk at a loss. Granted, it's been a decade, but last I worked in grocery, the loss for a store was $1.50 per 4L bag (at the time, they paid $5.79 and sold at $4.29).

They do this to stay competitive. That's why the dairy section is the furthest section away from the doors. You have to walk through the whole store to get there. The price we pay is already below market, making milk cheaper won't trickle down to the consumer.

The second issue with eliminating the Milk Board is quota. For farmers who's children don't want to continue the family farm, the value of the quota, which can be sold, is essentially their retirement investment.

Eliminating the board and the quota forces them to either work until they die, forces their children to continue the family business to support them, or lowers the price for the farm sale, which only benefits profiteers.

Now, for those who wish to discuss "why don't we export the excess", the short answer is "we can't". Most perishable food items that can be produced locally are not imported in order to offer protections to local agriculture producers.

This way, local farmers who may have limited capacity can't be driven out of the market by products coming from other countries with surplus capacity. Because local agriculture is important for every economy.

Finally for those saying "why not donate the excess?", I mean, sure. But people consume less dairy now than they used to in general, for a variety of reasons. Couple that with it's perishable status, and a surplus still needs to be dumped regardless of whether some is donated.

So, to conclude, yes, it sucks to see perfectly cromulent food trashed. But that isn't a reason for crippling small farmers, and certainly isn't raising the price to the consumer. Do your research instead of being reactionary.