The Milk Producer - December 2010 - (Page 4)

EDITOR’SNOTES By Bill Dimmick Gifts that really give As Christmas approaches, let’s tip our hats to the generosity and caring of Canadian dairy farmers A association with this industry, .the caring and com.passion of Canadian dairy farmers for less fortunate people ranks high on my list. My introduction came about 30 years ago when I edited a feature written by my former boss at Farm & Country about SHARE Agriculture Foundation. John Phillips, the editor and publisher, was a big booster of SHARE, founded by a small group of farmers in Peel Region, just west of Toronto. Its motto has always been “a hand up, not a handout.” SHARE’s first project in an impoverished area of rural Brazil involved two dairy farmers, Hugh and Melba Beaty. They sold their farm near Milton and moved to Brazil where they supervised the project for two years. SHARE embraces a “pay it forward” or “pass it on” principle. One group of farmers receives a cow, for example. The cow has a heifer, and the group gives the calf to another group, and so on. The milk enriches the diets of families, with some sold for much needed income. Counting heavily on volunteers, including farmers who travel overseas to lend their expertise without pay, SHARE has established projects throughout Central America and the Caribbean, as well as in Brazil. SHARE is just one example. A few years ago, we published a feature about Farmers Helping Farmers, a noteworthy group based in Prince Edward Island. Its goal is to help farmers in the East African nation of Kenya become more self-reliant in food production, including assistance to small dairy herds. THE I PRO U R TH E MI LK PRODUCER is published monthly RODU e m nthl hly by Dairy Farmers of Ontar o, 6780 Campobello Dai Farmers of Onta airy r tari b Road Mississauga, Ontario, Road, Mississauga, Ontar L5N 2L8 ad, ssis a t EDITOR: ill D m ick EDITOR: Bill Dimmick ITOR ASSISTAN EDIT R ASSISTANT EDITOR: Sharon Laidlaw SISTANT ITOR ai law Co-ordinated by Communications Co-ordinated by Co -ordinat s and Planning Div and Planning Di ision, n Bill itch Bill Mitch Assi tant Director. chell, ssis Chan Chan of address notices should be sent to: ange u be sent to: THE MILK PRODUCER 6780 Campobello Road, Mississauga, Ontario L5N 2L8. s 8 Subsc pt Subscription rate : $26.88 for one year, $49.28 bscr ates ye $49.28 ear, 9 for two years and $67.20 for three years in o w year n r e yea in ears Canada (includes HST), $36 per year in the nada (includes l s U.S. $36 per year overseas. Single copy: $2.50. U.S., $36 per year overs S., r vers Make cheques payab Make cheques payable to Dairy Farmers of heque able iry ir Ontario. Ontario. tari Then there is the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, a partnership of Canadian churches. It does much more than give food to hungry people, and has initiated worthwhile projects in developing countries. This organization, as the name implies, accepts donations of grains, pulse crops and oilseeds, and cash too, in its efforts to reduce hunger. Livestock sales are often used to raise funds. Through an annual heifer sale held in February, western Ontario farmers have raised almost $4 million since 1982. These funds help further the charitable work of the Mennonite Central Committee. Of course, charity can also begin at home. For years now, many Ontario dairy farmers have contributed fresh milk to the Ontario Food Bank Donation program. Currently, 364 donate more than 70,000 litres every month. Processors donate processing costs, and transporters deliver the milk to the plants at no charge. This list goes on. Dairy Farmers of Nova Scotia has a policy of setting aside funds to purchase skim milk powder it donates to food banks. Dairy Farmers of New Brunswick has operated a Milk Donation Program to support food banks since 2006. This is far from an exhaustive list. Do you or people you know belong to an organization involved in such activities? Please let me know. We would like to recognize their good works in a future issue. Canada Post Publications Mail Sales Product d tions Mai Sale P oduc a e uct Agreement No. 40063866. Return postage 0063 66. Retu postage 3866 turn o 38 guaranteed. Circulation: 10,000. io 0,000 o 000. ISSN 0030-3038. SS Prin Print d in Canada. inte n nada. a National Nation Marketing Manager tion eting Manager ana James Fitz James Fitzgerald tzg 154 Jean 154 Jean Street, n RR 5, Strat ord, Ontario N5A 6S6 5, Stra ratf Toll-fre Toll-free advertisers only: 1-888-460-6212 ll-free Phone (519) 393-5292 Fax (519) 393-5293 5292 52 51 29 E-m E-mail: milkjim47@quadro.net @quadro n ro.n Opinions expressed herein are those of the ed herein are thos f the erei hose author and/or editor and do not necessarily ditor and not necessarily e aril reﬂect the opinion or policies of Dairy Farmers n or policies of Dair Farmers lici iry of of Ontario. Publication of advertisements does P lication dvert sements does erti ment not constitute endor stitu ndor tute orsement or approval by The or t The Milk Producer or Dairy Farmers of Ontario of f products or services advertised. The Milk Producer welcomes let i oduce cer comes et etters to the e editor about magazine content. bout g bo maga ine content. t t. Phone: (905) 821-8970 ( 0 821-8970 1-89 Fax: (905) 821-3160 (905) 821-3160 1-31 E-mail: bdimmick@milk.org bdimmick milk. immick@m k.o slaidlaw@mil or slaidlaw@milk.org w ilk org Website: Go to publications o at www.milk.org 4 | December 2010 | MilkPRODUCER http://www.fsc.org http://www.milk.org http://www.fsc.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Milk Producer - December 2010

The Milk Producer - December 2010
Contents
Editor's Notes
DFO Chair's Message
Dairy Update
Industry Roundup
DFO Promotion
Back to Basics
Research
Applied Science
Index
Markets
New 'N' Noted
Back Forty

The Milk Producer - December 2010