young man and mature man leaning on farm fence

Cattlemen’s Young Leaders wanted

Reading Time: < 1 minute Applications for the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program are now open. The program, a national youth initiative by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, offers mentorship opportunities to those aged 18 to 35 who are interested in developing their industry leadership skills or career potential. Those selected as mentees will be paired with industry leaders to begin a 10-month […] Read more

Jersey cattle behind a fence

‘Breeding to feeding’ builds better dairy bulls

Crossbred Jersey-Limousins could be the answer to rebuilding North America’s cattle herd

Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta dairy producers may favour Holsteins on their farms, but down in the heart of America’s Midwest, Jerry Wulf milks around 30,000 “smaller, more efficient” Jersey cows — over half of his total dairy herd. But Jerseys have just one problem, he said. “That stray Jersey bull calf that she was raising was a liability, […] Read more



Equipment such as this offal blow tank at Quebec’s Levinoff-Colbex plant was sold to buyers onsite and online on Dec. 2. (BidSpotter.com)

Shuttered Que. beef plant’s equipment sold

The chance of a rescue for Quebec’s Levinoff-Colbex cull cow packing plant has passed, now that the facility’s equipment has been sold off piecemeal at auction. Provincial investment financing agency Investissement Quebec and other creditors still own the Colbex building and land at St-Cyrille-de-Wendover, in the Centre-du-Quebec region. But the plant’s receivers sold its equipment to a consortium of […] Read more


holstein dairy cattle

New program for dairy producers aims to reassure consumers

ProAction replaces the Canadian Quality Milk program by adding 
components for animal care and environmental sustainability

Reading Time: 3 minutes Dairy producers are revamping the Canadian Quality Milk program by adding protocols for animal care, on-farm food safety, traceability, biosecurity, and environmental sustainability. The new national accreditation program, called ProAction, was designed with consumers in mind, said Mike Slomp, industry and member services manager with Alberta Milk. “ProAction is about the social licence to operate, […] Read more

In-vitro bovine embryos allowed from the U.S.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has announced a new agreement which allows in-vitro fertilized (IVF) bovine embryos to enter Canada from the U.S. Previously, only IVF bovine embryos produced within Canada were accessible to producers. A Canadian Food Inspection agency release said this represents the first agreement Canada has developed with another country to permit the […] Read more



Hewitt’s Dairy owner Marie Hewitt, left, has reached a deal to sell the family-owned dairy processing business to Gay Lea Foods. (HewittsDairy.com)

Ontario’s Gay Lea to buy Hewitt’s Dairy

A 127-year-old family-owned Ontario dairy processor is set to go co-op. Gay Lea Foods, the province’s largest dairy co-operative, announced Wednesday it reached a deal to buy Hewitt’s Dairy of Hagersville for an undisclosed sum, effective Nov. 1. Hewitt’s is an icon in southern Ontario for its dairy bar just north of Hagersville, about 25 […] Read more



EU provides aid to dairy sector after Russian ban

Brussels | Reuters — The European Commission announced financial support for exporters of dairy products hit by Russia’s ban on Western food imports, adding to emergency measures already taken to help fruit and vegetable producers. Moscow this month imposed a one-year embargo on meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from the U.S., the European Union, […] Read more