Jason Erskine is a fourth-generation dairy producer in Hinchinbrooke.
As the local representative with the Producteurs du Lait du Quebec dairy association and the Haut-Saint-Laurent syndicate of the Union des Producteurs Agricole, Erskine is heavily invested and involved in the dairy world. “We milk 220 cows. Our main income is dairy. We don’t do cash crops or syrup or any other type of production,” he said, before noting that the supply management system that controls milk production and pricing is essential for dairy farmers.
“Milk has a short shelf life,” Erskine explained. “So, when it comes to marketing it, you need to have a system that is set up and moving because you can’t hold on to it like a grain or an animal,” he said. Milk is picked up daily and transported from the farm to a dairy; supply management allows farmers to share this transportation cost, so distances from farm to dairy are irrelevant. “Everyone pays the same price to move their milk,” he added, so farms can operate in different regions without having to be clustered around processors in metropolitan areas.
For Erskine, supply management also means stability. “When you’re growing crops for dairy cattle, you’re dealing with weather, you’re dealing with variable input prices. Having an idea as to what you’re going to be paid for your milk and how much you need to deliver is essential for any kind of long-term planning,” he explained. The quota system provides a sense of security that allows farmers to manage their farms while investing in the future as well.
Erskine acknowledged the price of quota can make it difficult to start up a new farm. Recent trade concessions that allow more dairy imports into the market have resulted in less opportunity as well. Dairy farms have also been closing as producers see opportunity in diversifying the use of their land, especially when there is no successor to take over.
“You have to be a certain kind of person to want to run a dairy farm,” said Erskine. While all farmers work hard, dairy producers “have a full day, every day, all the time,” he explained, suggesting the industry is starting to see a generational shift where lifestyle and quality of life are becoming important driving factors on the farm.
“We are seeing changes in the type of labour we have on our farms. Foreign workers are becoming more prominent,” Erskine confirmed. That, plus increased automation, means the new generation of farmers may have more flexibility. “I am happy to see that things are changing. I don’t think it was healthy the way that we approached our work life in farming,” he admitted. “That’s one of the reasons people are getting out of dairy farming. They are just tired.”
Erskine is now farming with his eldest son, Noel. He said the family dynamic on the farm has always been important. “It’s been very enjoyable. I got to work with my grandfather, my uncles, my father, my brother, and then growing up with the kids on the farm, we got to do fun things,” he said, recalling long hours picking stones as a family.
Now that his son is on the farm, Erskine said he looks forward to working together while he is able. He is also pleased that the pressure to put the farm over family life is changing.