Over the last 5 months, the dairy industry has had to manage market supply and demand through a global pandemic. Retail sales have been strong throughout the period however there continues to be volatility in the Hotel/Restaurant industry (HRI). Currently, BC continues to battle a spike in Covid-19 cases and waits to see the impact of schools reopening on September 14, 2020. The economy is operating in stage 3 which allows travel withing BC and dining-in for the restaurant sector.
In addition to Covid-19, the industry is also entering the first fall where all 3 trade agreements (CETA, CPTPP and CUSMA) will be in place, granting significant market access through various products.
We are now moving towards the fall period where we seasonally require more milk to meet supply obligations. With the challenge of moving forward without a stable forecast over the next few months, the Western Milk Pool has been actively discussing how to meet market demand and has agreed to issue incentive days.
The BC Milk Marketing Board issues the following incentive days to ensure milk supply;
- October 3 days
- November 2 days
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.
If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact Zahra Abdalla-Shamji at zabdalla@bcmilk.com.