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Columns, From the Hip

Schoepp: Pandemic an opportunity to rethink food distribution

A highly centralized food system isn't the only option; there's a place for local, too

By
First- and second-fiscal-quarter earnings for those selling groceries exceeded expectations as consumers stocked up during the pandemic. From small specialty stores to supermarkets, all have reported excellent profits. The idea of centralized retail grocery is relatively recent and yet most societies, regardless of global address, can now relate to shopping at a supermarket. In North […] Read more
Livestock, Markets, Reuters

Meat leads Canadian industrial producer prices higher in May

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Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian industrial producer prices rose 1.2 per cent in May on higher prices for meat, fish and dairy products, Statistics Canada said on Monday, as supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and increased demand boosted meat prices. The gain in producer prices followed four months of consecutive decreases and […] Read more
News

Beekeepers to get $1 million for replacement colonies

By
In response to the recent challenges faced by Alberta’s beekeepers, the provincial Agriculture Ministry is introducing a new Canadian Agricultural Partnership program. The program will include up to $1 million to help beekeepers offset the costs of increased colony replacements due to COVID-19. The program, available this summer, will be retroactive to cover issues faced […] Read more
Bison producers Steven and Michelle Lunty have kept a spark of hope alive for the future of the industry despite the challenges that have come with COVID-19.
Livestock, News

Oh, give me a home: Canada’s bison have nowhere to go

Restaurant closures have rocked the bison sector, with prices down by a quarter and a backlog building

By
The pandemic’s effect on the bison industry has been “absolutely staggering” over the past two months. “Our slaughter numbers in federal plants are down 81 per cent over this time last year,” said Steven Lunty, chair of Bison Producers of Alberta. “That means if we processed 100 animals in April of 2019, we processed 19 […] Read more
Livestock

COVID-19 knocks Agribition off 2020 calendar

Organizers look to 2021, plan 'new digital experiences' in meantime

By ,
Another of the Prairies’ major agricultural exhibitions has removed itself from the 2020 schedule. The 50th edition of Canadian Western Agribition, which was scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 this year at Regina’s Evraz Place exhibition park, has been postponed to Nov. 22-27, 2021. Organizers of the not-for-profit event said Wednesday they made the […] Read more
General

Quebec Liberals name new agriculture critic

New leader names former Laval police officer to handle ag file

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Quebec’s official opposition Liberals have shuffled their shadow cabinet and moved their labour critic, a former police officer, to the agriculture portfolio. Dominique Anglade, who was named last month as the Liberals’ new leader, on Tuesday appointed Jean Rousselle, MNA for the Laval-area riding of Vimont, as the party’s critic for public safety and for […] Read more
Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. meatpacking workers often absent after plants ordered to reopen

"There's still so many risks"

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Chicago/Washington | Reuters — Smithfield Foods is missing about a third of its employees at a South Dakota pork plant because they are quarantined or afraid to return to work after a severe coronavirus outbreak, according to the workers’ union. Tyson Foods was forced to briefly close its Storm Lake, Iowa plant — a month […] Read more
General, Markets

Federal surplus food program now taking applications

Qualified NGOs sought to move, distribute perishables to 'populations in need'

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A federal program to get food to those who need it, using stockpiles of perishables created by the COVID-19-related shutdown of the dining sector, is now taking applications. The $50 million Surplus Food Rescue Program — which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau telegraphed in a funding announcement May 5 — will take applications from “organizations addressing […] Read more
Livestock, Reuters

Elanco gets EU’s conditional antitrust OK for Bayer deal

Approval calls for sale of Vecoxan brand, among others

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Reuters/Staff — Elanco Animal Health secured antitrust clearance on Monday from the European Union to buy Bayer’s veterinary drugs unit, after pledging to sell some products to address competition concerns about the US$7.6 billion deal. The European Commission said the companies will sell either Elanco or Bayer’s products or those in the pipeline, including licenses, […] Read more
Livestock, Reuters

Dutch to cull mink at farms hit by COVID-19 outbreak

Order follows mink-to-human virus transmissions

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Amsterdam | Reuters — The Dutch government on Wednesday ordered mink culled at nine farms where animals have been infected with the coronavirus, fearing they could form a reservoir of disease infecting humans after the country’s current outbreak has passed. “Clearing the infected farms is in the interest of both human health and animal health,” […] Read more

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