Listen Live

- Advertisement -
HomeNewsNew United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement bad for business in the Bulkley Valley

New United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement bad for business in the Bulkley Valley

Local Dairy Famers are feeling betrayed by the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Farmer and President of the Bulkley Valley Dairy Association, Janika Heer says that the new agreement is going to stifle dairy farmers growth and opportunities to market their milk.

“We feel a little bit betrayed by Prime minister Trudeau because he said he had our back and kept saying that throughout the entire NAFTA renegotiations and it turns out we have up more market access to our dairy industry then we ever had, and we got nothing in return,” says Heer.

The USMCA gave 3.59 per cent market access to Canada’s domestic dairy market.

“When market is lost, it is often not even the big producers to take the hit… the mom and pop farms, the ones that have been in families for generations, they are the first to go because they’re the ones that can least weather the storm,” says MP for the Skeena—Bulkley Valley region, Nathan Cullen.

According to Heer, there are currently 11 farms in the Bulkley Valley Region, and all are family run with only around 70 cows per farm.

“Ultimately that is what we are afraid of, in every trade deal that we have, us milk producers loose access to market, so essentially its death by a thousand cuts, if we keep giving our market away to the Americans or Europeans,” adds Heer.

Heer says that as the concessions come in over the next five or so years, they are going to have to look at their business plans closely to see what they can handle.

Continue Reading

More