Ontario dairy farmers dumping skim milk into manure pits and sewer lagoons

Already forced for months to dump skim milk because there isn’t enough processing capacity in Ontario, a bad situation could get worse if action isn’t taken to modernize aging plants, Ontario’s dairy farmers are warning.  In testimony before the Senate’s Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, Peter Gould, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Ontario said there could be a devastating impact on rural Ontario and rural Canada in the absence of a well-thought-out strategy.  “The status quo is not an option. Doing nothing is not an option,” Gould said. “It’s not a pretty picture.” Processing plants that turned skim milk into powder hit their capacity 12 months ago in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. The industry has been disposing of skim milk almost every day since, he said.