Ontario dairy co-operative opens membership doors to goat producers

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

Ontario dairy goat producers can become full members of Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Ltd.

Delegates to the co-op’s recent annual meeting approved bylaw changes that pave the way for the membership expansion.

The addition of goat producers to its membership makes Gay Lea the first Canadian co-op to have both licensed dairy cow and dairy goat members, according to a Jan. 19 press release from the co-op.

Gay Lea was formed in 1958, has 3,800 members and is the largest dairy co-op in Ontario. Its 1,200 cow dairy farmer members produce 35 per cent of Ontario’s cow milk.

The membership change is one of two recent developments in Ontario’s goat industry announced by Gay Lea. The other is the purchase of a minority share in goat cheese-maker Mariposa Dairy Ltd. based in Lindsay.

The company produces goat and sheep cheeses using 100 per cent Ontario fresh goat and sheep milk. Its cheeses are marketed in Canada and the United States.

Jennifer Haley, executive director of Ontario Goat, says as full members, goat producers would be able to receive dividend and patronage payments “that are well known to Gay Lea members. Being shareholders, they (goat producers) would also have the ability to have a say in how their organization is run through being on the board of directors or being involved in various committees.”

Ontario Goat represents the meat and dairy goat industry through enhancing industry education, collaboration, innovation and strategic alliances. It’s not involved in setting goat milk prices or brokering milk.

Gay Lea became involved in the dairy goat sector after it bought Hagersville-based Hewitt’s Dairy Limited in November 2014. The Hewitt’s plant processes dairy cow products, such as milk, cream, cultured beverages and yogurt, along with dairy goat products, such as yogurt, sour cream, ice cream and organic goat milk.

After buying Hewitt’s, Gay Lea assumed that company’s relationship with Ontario dairy goat producers. The co-op manages about 40 per cent of the goat milk produced in the province through brokering and processing initiatives, the Gay Lea release says.

Haley says there are a number of dairy goat producers in Ontario who broker their milk to Gay Lea, and the co-op “bringing them on as full members is a new opportunity for goat producers that they didn’t have before.”

She says these two new developments are exciting for the industry. “It’s an opportunity for Ontario to be on the global stage in terms of goat production.” BF