The national system has recovered from the initial COVID 19 and CUSMA pressures placed on it in 2020. The outlook appears stable for requirements with an average amount of CDC butter and cheese stocks in the system. At this time, the only wildcard will be the volume of imports brought in and the resulting sales.
We are assuming that spring milk is currently being used by processors to stock industrial product for the fall where requirements are high and milk supply is seasonably low. In addition to the cyclical need for milk in the fall, we should consider the potential for the HRI sector to start its recovery (if vaccinations continue at this rate) and an increase in demand to serve these markets.
The Board has evaluated the market requirements for the fall period using the current CDC forecast and will issue incentive days for the period of August – November 2021. The fall period requires more milk to meet the high demand of the season and we want to ensure our industry partners can meet their obligations during this time.
The BC Milk Marketing Board issues the following incentive days to ensure milk supply;
- August 1 day(s)
- September 3 day(s)
- October 3 day(s)
- November 3 day(s)
The incentive days are issued on a fixed basis (i.e. the days for October can only be use in October), this is different from the previous flexible days program.
Due to the uncertainty of policy changes related to market requirements at the national and regional levels, the Board will continue to update producers as required to manage production accordingly. The incentive days are subject to change.
If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact Zahra Abdalla-Shamji at zabdalla@bcmilk.com.