3 ms·

End result of this being if I want to produce milk with dairy cows I can't?

• winstonewert 6y ago
  Correct. (There are exemptions for farms with a small number of cows)
• cmrdporcupine 6y ago
  Yes, similar systems are also in place for eggs and poultry. And yes in all cases there are exemptions in place for very small farms, but not enough to make much of a difference. "Alternative" products like duck eggs, water buffalo or goat's milk, etc. do not count, so there is some room for market diversification there, I guess. It has the net effect of keeping dairy prices at what's seen as an acceptable stable level that also keeps dairy farmer's in business, at the expense of diversity in the marketplace and access to new farmers.
• allannienhuis 6y ago
  If you want to buy an existing dairy farm's quota, you can. Similar to Taxi licenses in many places, no? I think most Canadians feel that the supply-side management of dairy and some other food products works for us fairly well, and that the Taxi license system doesn't. I guess that means the reasons for them working well or not are something other than the concept of supply-side management?
  • cmrdporcupine 6y ago
    I think the perception that it works is more about the perception is that "milk" is a homogeneous category and the population doesn't much care that there isn't much diversity in it. Same goes for eggs. And the price is considered fair. When you go making your own homemade cheese or yogourt though, then you notice how painfully high our (consumer) milk prices are. And when you taste higher quality milk in European countries, and notice the lack of quality milk at reasonable prices on Canadian grocery store shelves, it starts to be a bit more frustrating.
    • romanoderoma 6y ago
      Honestly in Europe we have the same quota system for milk. Quality here is not a function of the market being more free. It's a function of a better food production chain Instead of competing on prices many food products in Europe compete on quality and locality (small areas that produce some unique product of extremely high and renowned quality: Champagne in France, Parmigiano Reggiano in Italy, jamon serrano in Spain, etc. etc.)