Quebec dairy co-operative Agropur plans to shut a Montreal-area fluid milk processing plant which it says has aged out of service. The company said Tuesday it will close its milk plant in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, which today employs 67 full-time and 27 “temporary” staff, by late May next year. “Considering the age and condition of the building […] Read more
Agropur to shut Montreal-area milk plant
Pitting supply management against U.S. subsidies seen as ‘unfair’
CNS Canada — How will Canada’s supply management system stack up against America’s domestic supports if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) comes to fruition? It’s a question that hasn’t been answered, say some experts from Canada’s farming institutions. “It would be completely unfair if we have to compete with lower prices, because those lower prices are […] Read more
Dairy farmers worry Trans-Pacific trade deal could hurt
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s powerful dairy industry on Friday expressed concern it could suffer if talks to create a Pacific trade treaty open up heavily protected Canadian markets to more foreign competition. Some of the 12 nations taking part in negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) want Canada to start dismantling a system known […] Read more
High-fat dairy demand leaving Ont. skim milk homeless
Strong demand for high-butterfat dairy products, soft demand for fluid milk and maxed-out capacity to make skim milk powder have led Ontario’s dairy farmers in recent weeks to dump surplus skim milk in lagoons. A letter to producers last Friday from Dairy Farmers of Ontario board chairman Ralph Dietrich, intended to “put to rest the […] Read more
Quebec to halt ASRA for veal sector
Quebec’s farm finance and funding agency plans to remove the veal sector from the province’s ASRA income stabilization program starting next year. La Financiere agricole du Quebec (FADQ) announced Friday that its board had agreed to end ASRA (Assurance stabilisation des revenus agricoles) coverage for Quebec’s milk-fed veal calf operations, effective Jan. 1, 2016. Affected producers, after that […] Read more
Canadian, U.S. regulators clear Heinz and Kraft merger
Antitrust regulators in both Canada and the U.S. have fixed their seals of official inaction on ketchup giant H.J. Heinz’s play for control of Kraft Foods Group. Canada’s Competition Bureau has confirmed that it wrapped its review of the proposed deal and issued its “no action” letter to the companies on Wednesday. A “no action” […] Read more
Quebec plans new legal status for animals
Quebec’s agriculture minister has tabled a new provincial government bill to raise the legal status of domestic and farmed animals in the province beyond that of “furniture.” Pierre Paradis on Friday introduced Bill 54 in the provincial assembly, with the stated goal of enshrining animals in Quebec’s Civil Code as sentient beings — that is, feeling and […] Read more
Feta puts small Alberta company on the artisanal cheese map
Tiras Dairies brings home a win in the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix
Reading Time: 2 minutes The staff at Tiras Dairies in Camrose has a reason to celebrate. The small plant, which has just eight staff, now ranks up there with the top cheese makers in the country. Plant manager Olga Payne attended the national gala in Toronto last month and came home with the top prize in the brine-ripened category […] Read more
Genomics proving its worth for purebred cattle
Genomically enhanced selection is catching on with purebred producers, but crossbreds pose more of a challenge
Reading Time: 2 minutes Purebred cattle have a leg up on their crossbred cousins — at least as far as genomics is concerned. “The purebred industries are the ones that are really using genomically enhanced selection indexes,” said Dawn Trautman, technology translator at Livestock Gentec. “In the purebred industry, you can get validated markers a lot faster because you’re […] Read more
Global dairy demand seen picking up only slightly
Wellington | Reuters –– Global dairy prices are expected to pick up only slightly over the next 12 months, New Zealand dairy co-operative Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy exporter, said Thursday. Fonterra said the subdued outlook amid sluggish demand would likely slow the pace of New Zealand dairy output growth, and kept its forecast payout […] Read more