Livestock

The national Beef Information Centre has gone live with a French-language version of its consumer information website. The new site, Boeufinfo.org, “allows French-speaking Canadians easy access and understanding of the goodness Canadian beef has to offer,” BIC said in a release Wednesday. “As a national organization representing Canadian beef producers, we feel it is important […] Read more

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz refutes a U.S. trade newsletter’s report which suggests Canada sought to go soft on its dispute with the U.S. over its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) rules on food imports. The recent report from the Arlington, Va.-based newsletter Inside U.S. Trade was cited Wednesday in a press release from the federal opposition Liberals. […] Read more

Ag-based products, technology and on-farm ideas hatched in Nova Scotia are the expected beneficiaries from a new $3.9 million federal/provincial Innovation Fund. The new fund, supported 60-40 by Ottawa and the provincial government under the Growing Forward ag policy framework, will back “research, innovations in marketing and developing new products as well as on-farm technology […] Read more

A federal/provincial employment program will foot the bill for a livestock fencing program pledged in May for British Columbia ranchers. The federal and B.C. governments on Monday announced a $60 million commitment to a joint Job Opportunities Program to create immediate employment, aimed at communities and sectors hit hardest by economic downturn. Of that funding, […] Read more

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says he aims to have answers within days for Canada’s hog producers on their requests for further industry support. The Canadian Pork Council on Monday rolled out a proposal for a five-year “Strategic Transition Plan” calling for transition payments, adjusted advance payments and new loans to recover from international bad […] Read more

With one major exception, Canada’s federal and provincial agriculture ministers have committed to have a mandatory, nationwide traceability system for livestock and poultry in place by 2011. Coming out of their meeting this week at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., the ministers on Friday jointly described such a system as “critical for managing animal health and food safety […] Read more

Canada’s livestock auction marts, assembly yards, privately-owned community pastures, fairs and exhibitions will be able to get federal funding for upgrades that support farm gate-to-grocery traceability. The federal government on Friday pledged $20 million over the next three years from its Agricultural Flexibility Fund for a Livestock Auction Traceability Initiative, to upgrade handling systems in […] Read more

The Alberta government is now taking applications for two new agribusiness funding programs aimed at improving food processes and developing new products. A total of $10.27 million in federal/provincial funding will flow to the Agri-Business Automation and Lean Manufacturing program ($8.05 million) and the Agri-Business and Product Development program ($2.22 million) through the Growing Forward […] Read more

A case study of a typical value chain in Canada’s pork industry shows that changes at several stages, including less emphasis on cutting costs for efficiency’s sake, could make “major improvements” for the chain’s various links. The Value Chain Management Centre, a division of the George Morris Centre, also found “an improvement in performance reporting […] Read more