You’ve probably noticed that meat has become more expensive. This leads shoppers to look for other sources of protein. Yes, pork and chicken are a little less expensive than beef per pound of protein but other high protein foods like cottage cheese, yogurt, and bean-based foods are also less expensive sources of protein. Dairy producers have noticed a substantial increase in the use of those high-protein dairy products. Twenty-five years ago, when lower fat and higher protein became more popular in the milk that we drink, the dairy farmers both bred for and fed for high protein. That was back when our medical professionals told us that too much fat (which contained cholesterol) was bad for us. 

A medical professor from McGill University spoke at the AGM for Quebec milk producers and said the surest way to have a lower cholesterol is to “pick your parents”. Then, the medical world discovered that there were two types of cholesterol. The type in vegetable oils was not handled well by our digestive system, but the cholesterol in dairy foods was and it didn’t cause as many high cholesterol problems. Then, consumers began to use more butter and less plant-based fats. As that trend increased, farmers began reducing protein in milk and increased fat content. 

At that time, our grandparents had been breeding for high fat production for a lifetime. A forage inoculant company introduced an additive that was sprayed onto the silage in the forage harvester that not only reduced spoilage, but also increased both milk and protein production. Both dairy cattle breeders and nutritionists began looking for ways to increase or decrease protein or fat content in the milk. At that time, a bull calf who was born in Arnprior was bought by an artificial breeders’ group in B.C.. When that bull’s heifers were tested, not just for how beautiful they were but also for the milk, protein, and fat that they produced as dairy cows, it was immediately noticed that cows from that bull were the highest protein producers in Canada. When consumers wanted high-protein, low-fat milk, all dairy farmers in Canada and in the U.S. wanted to use semen from that bull. 

Dairy nutritionists were first to notice that dairy herds in B.C. and the Maritimes produced milk with higher protein content than herds in the interior of Canada. When nutritionists checked the rations of dairy herds in different provinces, they noticed that farms in B.C. and in the Maritimes used more fish meal or fish oil than dairy farmers in the other provinces who used soybean meal, canola meal, or fuzzy cotton seed for a protein source. Cattle breeders tried for years to increase the protein yield in the milk of their herds but even with continued use of that good bull who was born in Arnprior, they could hardly move the needle to increase protein content. 

After several years of trying both selective breeding and different sources of protein in the milk cow rations, it was accepted that any real change in the protein content of the milk was related to feed and not breeding. Selective breeding can increase the fat content in the milk, but not the protein content. It was also noticed that it was less expensive to feed a ration with a higher percentage of forage, like early cat hay, haylage, or corn silage, but with less expensive grain concentrate to produce a higher fat milk, than feed a higher more expensive grain based ration (which is necessary to increase the protein content). 

Now,  let’s look at the COP (cost of production) of the milk and dairy products that in the end, the consumer has to pay for. Dairy farmers are only paid for the fat, protein, and other solids like lactose and minerals in the milk, but not for the total volume of milk, including the watery part. However, the cost of transporting milk from farm to plant or from one plant that has too much to another who needs more, the cost of advertising, and the cost of running the milk board, testing the milk for cleanliness, bacteria content, water, and any residual antibiotics is paid for by the dairy farmer according to the total volume shipped. 

Now dairy farmers will be penalized for having too low a protein content. The only way to increase protein yield is to increase total milk yield and at the same time try to keep the fat content lower. This will increase the COP for the dairy farmers and each farmer will have to closely check the best way to keep the cost down on his individual farm.

A few years ago in China, companies were adding nitrogen-rich melamine to baby formula to increase the apparent protein content of milk. Some children died from that. Dairy farmers of Canada never have and never will allow anything (including nitrogen) to be added to our dairy products. The least expensive form of nitrogen, per unit of nitrogen, is anhydrous ammonia. Some grocery stores in Canada now sell a protein supplement powder (mostly whey powder) which can be imported from China. When I was a kid, some families bought powdered milk which they mixed with water and then mixed half and half with milk to reduce the cost of feeding the family. Our dairy farmers will do their best to keep milk and other dairy products as low as possible, but as consumers search for less expensive protein, milk prices may increase until that trend changes again

Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.