Dairy Farmers of Canada is welcoming Thursday's announcement from the federal government in regards to funding that will help offset some of the damage that is expected to be caused by the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

The Liberals will invest $250 million over five years for a Dairy Farm Investment Program and $100 million over four years for a Dairy Processing Investment Fund.

David Wiens is chair of Dairy Farmers of Manitoba and is also one of the vice-presidents for Dairy Farmers of Canada.

He notes while Thursday's announcement was a positive step, there are still some outstanding issues such as Canada's domestic regulations and border measures.

"That is really quite critical, so that when border measures are set that they are clearly defined and not in such a way that they can easily be circumvented," explained Wiens.

He adds that while CETA is not positive for the dairy industry, he does recognize that it is an important trade deal for both Canada and the European Union.

Dairy Farmers of Canada says CETA will result in an expropriation of up to 2 per cent of Canadian milk production. The organization is expecting the agreement to cost the industry up to $116 million a year in perpetual lost revenues.