Confidence: Verified (DFO / StatCan / DCC sourced); Estimated for current-year county FCR figures.
Sector reference for Ontario dairy as of May 2026. Anchors operational and pricing decisions across the dairy customer base.
Headline numbers (DFO Dairynomics, February 2025)
- 3,187 dairy farms shipping milk in Ontario, 2024.
- 320,000 milking cows; average herd ≈100 cows.
- 3.18 billion litres production in 2024 — statistically unchanged from 1966 despite the cow count falling from 903,000.
- Quota cap: CA$24,000/kg of butterfat (Ontario provincial cap, Canadian Dairy Commission / DFO 2024–25). A 100-cow operation represents ≈CA$2.4 million of quota equity alone.
County concentration — Farm Cash Receipts, dairy
- Oxford ≈$300M (the dairy capital of Ontario).
- Perth ≈$210M+.
- Wellington ≈$254M+.
- Huron in the top tier alongside the above.
Source: OMAFRA Farm Cash Receipts by County, data.ontario.ca. Verified for 2021–2023 series; Estimated for current year.
Parlour-type distribution (SW Ontario)
- Double-X parallel parlours dominate new builds in the 100–250-cow range.
- Tie-stalls persist on older 50–80-cow operations — still common in Perth, Huron, Bruce.
- Rotary parlours appear at 300+ cows.
- Robotic milking (Lely Astronaut A5, DeLaval VMS V300, GEA DairyRobot R9500) is the fastest-growing segment, especially on greenfield freestall builds in Perth, Oxford, Wellington. Maplevue Farms in North Perth (Dave and Doug Johnston) is a representative example: 75-cow freestall with two Lely A5 robots, built 2018 (Farmtario, "Public invited to experience new dairy barn").
Qualitative prevalence Verified; quantitative breakdown Inferred.
Sources
DFO Dairynomics (February 2025); Canadian Dairy Commission / Dairy Farmers of Canada Number of farms, dairy cows and dairy heifers (agriculture.canada.ca, 2024); OMAFRA Farm Cash Receipts by County (data.ontario.ca); Farmtario.