Reading Time: 2 minutes When I meet him at their brand new headquarters in Saffré, a village in western France, it’s clear Théofile Jouve, director general of Biolait is a proud man. “In 2013, when the price of conventional milk was almost the same as organic milk, we had 60 farmers ask to be part of our business,” he […] Read more
Organic milk: 1,000 farms for one cow
Milk After Quotas: In the past decade, Biolait has seen its production double in size
Setting their own quota
Milk After Quotas: Milk producers find more success with cheese
Reading Time: 3 minutes Jean-Marie Guinchard looks across his ancestral farm located at la Sommette, a hamlet near the Swiss border. “We are cheese producers before being milk producers,” he tells me. “That’s saved us because we get a much higher return than conventional milk.” With his herd of 160 milking cows of the Montbéliarde breed, the 58 year […] Read more
Farmer Tim’s social media tips
Pointers from Tim May on how to use social media to set the record straight on farms and farming
Reading Time: 4 minutes Tim May is a fourth-generation dairy farmer near Guelph, Ont., with 27,000 followers on Facebook. That’s right — 27,000. May started his Farmer Tim Facebook page a little over three years ago when he decided it was time for average farmers to battle the misinformation about dairy farming and agriculture that he saw being shared […] Read more
Eastern Manitoba ice cream maker closes shop
Reading Time: 3 minutes An eastern Manitoba dairy farmer who began producing a specialty ice cream with the farm’s own milk in 2013 has closed shop citing rising production costs. Lisa Dyck, owner of the Cornell Creme ice cream brand, began producing a line of hand-crafted ice cream in 2013, using milk from the family dairy farm northeast of […] Read more
Federal food labelling proposal has dairy farmers concerned
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — While trade deals have had Canadian dairy farmers concerned about losing market share domestically, a recent proposal to change food package labeling could potentially be more damaging to the industry. Health Canada launched consultations in February for its proposed new front-of-packaging labeling. The proposal, part of Health Canada’s Healthy Eating Strategy, would […] Read more
Australia clears Saputo’s Murray Goulburn takeover
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Australia’s competition regulator on Wednesday approved a planned $1 billion takeover of the country’s largest dairy processor, Murray Goulburn Co-operative, by Canada’s Saputo. The deal, which Australia’s largest dairy processor says is key to its survival, was approved after Saputo agreed to sell a milk plant in Victoria state to address concerns from […] Read more
The ‘insight’ bonus
More brothers and sisters: Knowing each other’s characters so well means this family is ready for almost any challenge
Reading Time: 5 minutes Brothers and sisters are working together on more farms all the time. More and more too, there are multiple siblings on these farms, not just one of each. To outsiders, it can seem like so many more chances for family to get in the way, and so many chances for old rivalries to flare up. […] Read more
Trudeau optimistic on NAFTA as deal on autos seen possible
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday for the first time that a deal to renegotiate NAFTA was likely, amid signs negotiators may be closer to settling one of the regional trade pact’s most contentious issues. “We remain very confident that a win-win-win deal is not only possible, but likely,” Trudeau […] Read more
Taste the future
Why is a farm that’s noted for its technological innovation suddenly getting involved in an enterprise producing Middle Eastern ice cream?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Dawne and Lloyd Grenkow finish each other’s sentences, if not each other’s thoughts. “Working with family? I love it,” Dawne says, giving her son Lloyd a bit of a sideways glance and a laugh. “Really, though, you give your blood, sweat and tears to it, but everybody does. And everybody benefits.” Dawne founded Grenkow Holsteins […] Read more
Nestle to spread out at London ice cream plant
Reading Time: 2 minutes A multi-phase overhaul at Nestle Canada’s southwestern Ontario ice cream factory is moving further ahead with a plant expansion. The company’s London, Ont. ice cream plant, which has operated since 1966 and supplies brands such as Haagen-Dazs, Drumstick, Parlour and Skinny Cow for all of Canada, is in the midst of a four-phase, $51.5 million […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
