Lucrative? Yes Legal? Maybe

[Guest guest]

Selling raw milk may be illegal in Canada, but it's a product consumers clearly want

Sixteen years ago, customer demand convinced Schmidt to find a way around the pasteurization rules. Today the Durham Ontario farmer has 150 members in his cow share program, where $300 will buy a quarter share in one of his 30 Old Canadiennes - and a corresponding share of the raw milk it produces. "We don't sell milk," he explains. "We sell cows."

Business is booming. His members come from as far away as Toronto, and there's a three year waiting list to join. But the picture isn't entirely rosy.

Recently, Schmidt was charged with operating a plant without a licence and storing and displaying raw milk, following a raid in November where officials seized his milk and processing equipment.

Schmidt is optimistic that the Court will rule in is favour because members legally own the cow whose milk they consume. A judge in Ohio, which has similar dairy regulations to Canada, recently upheld the legality of a cow share scheme there.

Despite a number of legal hassles over the years, Schmidt says raw milk can provide a good niche for small farmers. In addition to each share, he charges $2 per litre for feeding, milking and caring for bottling the milk. The scheme accounts for more than half his farm income; the rest comes from beef and pork productions, plus an on-farm bakery. "Even a 100 acres becomes very attractive again." he explains.

That was welcome news to Fennel, a former non-quota producer in eastern Ontario with 50 Holsteins. She used to export milk until 2003, when the Dairy Farmers of Ontario changed their regulations in response to a World Trade Organization ruling. For the past three years, her family has been trying to figure out how to get back into the dairy industry. After speaking for Schmidt last December, she issued a press release announcing her intention to form a cow share program.

Within 48 hours, she had 12 shareholders sign up, and interest has continued to grow. Despite a Cease & Desist Order from the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, she plans to be in business by the end of January 2007.

"Every dairy farmer in the country drinks their own milk out of the cow that they own," she says. "We're giving the same opportunity to those who can't live on a farm."

Conditions have changed substantially since pasteurization became mandatory in the 1930s, she stresses, and modern consumers understand the hazards and benefits of raw milk. "They are very happy to take that chance to be able to consume a superior product," she says.

Schmidt would like to see raw milk sales made legal and governed by internationally accepted standards. In the meantime, he advises other farmers considering a cow share scheme to go for it. "Don't be afraid," he says. "If the consumers are with you and the consumers support you there is no reason not to."

Stauffer

SMALL FARM CANADA March -April 2007