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A government sponsored agency currently controls the prices for dairy products in Canada. This was implemented because the government wanted to regulate the prices paid to dairy farmers and the amount of milk they could produce, in order to protect the farmers. However, problems have begun to arise because of these price controls, mostly due to the fact that the market price is much higher than it should be (which hurts consumers) and it is costing billions of dollars each year.

Who likes cheese? In Canada we do, and it's not helpful that our dairy prices are so much higher than other countries. This article analyzes our situation compared to other countries, particularly the United States. It also brings up the idea of other countries imposing subsidies to pay out farmers to help the problem (ie. US farmers get 31 cents per litre of milk). As well, Canadian farmers get a quota to how much product they can produce, so that really restricts competition in this industry.

This article discusses the rising problem in New Zealand, of rising prices on dairy products. We can see a distinction in this article between milk, on one hand, and on the other, butter and cheese. Milk in relatively inelastic, because it is a necessity for a healthy diet (especially for growing children), however milk and cheese are relatively elastic, because they are not as vital for a good diet, and their demand will likely drop a lot more than the demand for milk.