HOT TOPIC New Zealand and Canadian perspectives on supply management offered during conference
Reading Time: 2 minutes It wasn’t quite a debate, but attendees at the Alberta Beef Industry conference in Banff last month got two different views on supply management. On one side was New Zealand’s special agricultural trade envoy Alistair Polson, who said Canada’s protected marketing system for dairy and poultry is a deal breaker for entry into the Trans-Pacific […] Read moreExperts compare notes on supply management systems and trade negotiations
Canola industry market access report eyes key tariff and non-tariff barriers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Some countries are still slapping import-limiting tariffs on Canada’s canola, but the industry warns this country’s most valuable commodity crop is “uniquely susceptible” to non-tariff barriers emerging at an increasing rate. Both types of barriers in key export markets are targeted in the Canola Council of Canada’s new market access strategy — and will require […] Read more
Canada rips USDA’s plan for more specific COOL labels
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian officials and U.S. packers warn the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new proposal for even more specific country-of-origin labelling (COOL) on meat will only make a bad rule worse. Racing to bring its mandatory COOL law into compliance with critical World Trade Organization rulings before the WTO’s May 23 deadline, USDA issued a proposed new […] Read more
Alberta cheesemakers finalists in national competition
Reading Time: < 1 minute Two Alberta cheese makers are among the 58 finalists for the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix sponsored by Dairy Farmers of Canada. Cheese makers from British Columbia to P.E.I. submitted 225 cheeses in 19 different categories in the competition. Sylvan Star Cheese of Red Deer has three cheeses selected for the finals — Grizzly Gouda in […] Read more
Two new branded off-patent products hit market
Reading Time: < 1 minute MANA Canada has introduced two new off-patent co-pack products that are analogues of popular products already available in Western Canada. The new Topline herbicide is a cereal product that includes the active ingredients florasulam and MCPA ester, the same active ingredients as Frontline. It’s registered for use on wheat, oat and barley. In a conference […] Read more
Funds for dairy mastitis tracking
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Dairy Network (CDN) is getting up to $54,000 from the federal government to develop software that tracks mastitis in dairy cattle, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced Feb. 21. Farms across Canada will report each incidence of mastitis, enabling CDN to eventually determine disease-resistant traits in cattle, allowing farmers to better select animals for […] Read more
No bloat with new sainfoin in alfalfa
Reading Time: 2 minutes Scientists have developed a new variety of sainfoin that offers bloat-free grazing for cattle when paired with alfalfa in a mixed stand. Development of the new cultivar, tested as LRC 3902, was led by Dr. Surya Acharya of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Lethbridge. Acharya announced the variety and its proposed name of Mountainview […] Read more
CFIA to give up on wiping out anaplasmosis
Interim Until March 31, 2014, CFIA will still respond to new cases, but will follow only a scaled-back “interim approach”
Reading Time: 2 minutes Facing the fact that the disease has become “established” in U.S. herds, Canadian inspectors will no longer respond to new cases of anaplasmosis starting next spring. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced Feb. 25 it will remove anaplasmosis from Canada’s list of federally reportable diseases effective April 1, 2014, placing it instead on the […] Read moreCooler upgrade boosts Maple Leaf capacity at Lethbridge
Reading Time: < 1 minute Maple Leaf Foods expects to improve throughput at its Lethbridge pork-processing plant by up to 200 hogs per day, by clearing bottlenecks in its carcass cooler and floor plan. According to the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA), which has put up a grant of $492,259 for the project, Maple Leaf plans to spend over […] Read more
Redford officially opens property rights advocate office
Reading Time: < 1 minute A provincial pledge to set up Alberta’s first property rights advocate has reached the grand opening stage. Premier Alison Redford attended the official opening of the advocate’s office Feb. 5 at 200 Fifth Ave. S. in Lethbridge, following the appointment of Lethbridge lawyer Lee Cutforth to a three-year term. The role of the advocate, the […] Read more
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