With a presence in all provinces, the 12,234 dairy farms generated $5.9 billion in cash receipts from the sale of milk and cream in 2013, nearly 11% of total Canadian farm cash receipts. The total excludes receipts from the sale of cattle or genetics. Only canola ($7.3 billion) and beef ($6.0 billion) generated greater receipts.
«We continue to grow – creating jobs, increasing milk production and generating greater revenues,” said Wally Smith, DFC president of Dairy Farmers of Canada. “Our system is benefitting Canada and Canadians.»
«The dairy industry has an important presence in all Canadian provinces, and leads the agricultural economy of seven provinces,» added Smith. «At the same time, Canadians enjoy affordable, quality food as they spend less than 10% of disposable income on food, one of the lowest in the world. Of that, 1.03% is spent on dairy products.»
Dairy production helped maintain over 112,000 full-time equivalent jobs and contributed over $8 billion to the Canadian GDP. As for the 465 dairy processing plants, they generated manufacturing shipments having a total value of $16.4 billion, nearly 17% of the value of sales in the Canadian food and beverage sector. These activities enable the processing sector to maintain over 102,000 full-time equivalent jobs in Canada and contribute up to $10.8 billion to the Canadian GDP.
As a whole, the Canadian dairy industry generates nearly 215,000 full-time equivalent jobs, which represents 1.2% of all jobs in Canada (estimated at roughly 17.7 million). The industry is also responsible for creating $18.9 billion in GDP in the country, roughly 1.1% of the Canadian GDP. In addition, the industry generated $3.6 billion in tax revenues for the federal, provincial and municipal governments.
While the report is specific to the economic impact of 2013, current growth trends (between April 2014 and April 2015) show a continued increase in sales of milk products at the national level. More specifically, the retail sales of cream (+5.5%), butter (+4.4%), cheese (+3.2%), and organic milk (+15%) registered growth over that period.
Source: DairyHerd
