Livestock
Students at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College are going into classes this fall expecting less use of live, anesthetized animals as they learn surgical skills. The OVC said earlier this month it will now focus more on the use of surgical skills models and cadaver animals, rather than performing procedures on animals that […] Read more
Anesthesia study revised for Ont. vet students
P.E.I. approves mink farm proposal
Prince Edward Island has approved a proposal for a 13th mink farm to set up in December following an environmental impact assessment and some high-profile opposition. “The environmental impact assessment is a thorough review of the operation to ensure there will be no harmful impacts on the environment,” provincial Environment Minister Richard Brown said in […] Read more
Pork product exports up despite hog output decline
(Resource News International) — Exports of Canada`s pork products have managed to hold steady and even climb despite live hog output in the country continuing to decline. The ability to maintain exports of Canada’s pork products also comes as domestic production of those products begins to decline. “Considering that Canada’s live hog production is about […] Read more
Danone shifts DanActive production to Quebec
With $50 million worth of new equipment and renovations in place at its Boucherville, Que. yogurt plant, Danone Canada now plans to handle all its own production of its DanActive dairy drink for the Canadian market. The move, officially announced Tuesday, shifts some DanActive production north from the French multinational dairy firm’s Dannon facilities in […] Read more
N.B. agriculture minister unseated in election
New Brunswick’s agriculture and aquaculture minister, Ronald Ouellette, was among the casualties of his party’s defeat by the Tories in Monday’s provincial election. Ouellette, a former mayor of Grand Falls, a Liberal MLA since 2003 and agriculture minister since 2006, lost in his riding of Grand Falls-Drummond-St-Andre to the Progressive Conservatives’ Danny Soucy on Monday […] Read more
Klassen: Rising corn weighs on feeder cattle
U.S. yearling prices were $3-$4 per hundredweight (cwt) lower last week as Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures reached their highest levels in two years. U.S. calves were moving $3-$7/cwt lower amidst lower demand and increasing head counts. Buying interest for replacement cattle has subsided, with feeding margins under pressure and deferred live cattle […] Read more
Ont. cheese organization to go national
Members of the Ontario Cheese Society have agreed to remake the organization as a nationwide body to promote artisanal, farmstead and specialty cheesemakers across Canada. The new name, the Canadian Cheese Society (and, in French, la Societe des fromages canadiens), and the organization’s new structure are to take effect Jan. 1, 2011, the group said […] Read more
Que. multi-species meat plant gets loan for renos
A multi-species slaughter plant in western Quebec’s Outaouais region will get a federal loan worth up to $2 million for renovations expected to help boost its throughput. Les Viandes de la Petite Nation, based at St-Andre-Avellin, about 60 km northeast of Gatineau, will get its funds through the federal Slaughter Improvement Program, which loans funds […] Read more
Liberals pledge to reopen federal prison farms
The federal Liberal party has committed “a future Liberal government” to reopen six federal prison farms now scheduled for closure. The party’s public safety critic, Toronto-area MP Mark Holland, on Thursday said the party would “restore the prison farm program and… oppose the building of privatized U.S.-style super prisons on former prison farm lands.” The […] Read more
Difficult harvest increases feed wheat supplies
Adverse harvest conditions across the Canadian prairies is pointing to large volumes of feed wheat around this winter. Gerald Snip, a grain trader with Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge, said most of Alberta and Saskatchewan are having big problems getting the crop off. “It’s just too wet to even get the combines on the field […] Read more
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