Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) issued its Progress Report on proAction, the robust national quality assurance program followed on Canadian dairy farms.
The 2022 Progress Report reviews the current state of the program and highlights progress made by the dairy sector over the past year in proAction’s six priority areas: milk quality, food safety, animal care, livestock traceability, biosecurity and the environment. It also draws links between proAction and DFC’s Net-Zero Strategy.
This year marks the first year on-farm environmental stewardship practices have been reported through the environment module. DFC is encouraged by the early results, and we are proud of our Canadian dairy farmers who are proactively taking care of our environment.
The robust requirements of proAction reflect the values dairy farmers share with consumers and demonstrate that milk is responsibly produced on Canadian dairy farms, as represented under the Blue Cow logo.
Click here to view the full report.
DFC relaunches important research funding program
Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) is excited to announce renewed investment in DFC’s Dairy Production Research Funding Program, which helps to foster innovation; increase farm efficiency and sustainability; and enhance animal care, health and welfare. The funding program, which ran successfully from 1995 until 2010, was temporarily placed on hold until 2021 due to shifting priorities in Canada’s ever-evolving research funding environment. Now, thanks to new government-matching programs from agencies such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), DFC’s investments in dairy research will reach even further.
DFC commits over $2 million annually towards research programs and priority areas; combining its investment with partner contributions last year increased that number upwards of $9 million. In 2022, recipients of DFC’s competitive research funding programs joined 45 ongoing projects, 34 institutions, more than 140 scientists and 130 students, and over 1,000 collaborations taking place on dairy farms across the country. Other investments in research over the years have led to important advancements in dairy production, such as strengthening the animal assessment process in proAction’s animal care module, and in on-farm best practices, such as demonstrating how frequent emptying or covering liquid manure storage tanks can help lower dairy’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
For this year’s Dairy Production Research Funding Program, DFC is primarily focused on investing in dairy farm sustainability as the sector commits to achieving net-zero GHG by 2050. This important program, along with DFC’s ongoing Nutrition Research Funding Program, supports the organization’s 2022-2027 National Dairy Research Strategy. The call for proposals for the funding program is now closed; select principal investigators will be notified in mid-February if they are invited to the next step of the selection process. Click here for more information on this program or the National Dairy Research Strategy.
Register for the 2023 APC
Don’t forget to register for Dairy Farmers of Canada’s Hybrid Annual Policy Conference, taking place March 20 and 21.
The Canadian dairy sector is facing several headwinds: Inflationary and supply chain pressures on production, market disruption from imports and plant-based alternatives, changing consumer behaviour, government trade and climate policies are just a few of the issues dairy farmers will have to contend with in 2023. The next few years will be pivotal as we adjust to new realities. Fortunately, the industry has proven its resilience and ability to adapt creatively, and its confidence is growing.
Join your fellow farmers as we dive into the consumer, economic and public policy trends shaping the dairy industry and plot out our place in the safe and sustainable food system of the future.
Registration for in-person attendance closes Feb. 27; registration for virtual attendance closes March 17. We hope to see you there.
