Livestock
The extended national cull breeding swine program will begin taking applications from eligible hog producers Thursday (May 7), the Canadian Pork Council said Wednesday. Funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and delivered by the CPC, the extended program goes further back to include breeding swine culled between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31, 2007. That’s on […] Read more
Extended swine cull program accepting forms
Officials defend pork after WHO warning
Agriculture officials across Canada and North America rushed to the pork sector’s defense Wednesday after a warning from a World Health Organization official over the odds of survival for the novel H1N1 flu virus in pigs’ meat and blood. WHO official Jorgen Schlundt was quoted Wednesday by the Reuters news service as warning it’s possible […] Read more
U of S buys Sask. feed mill for research
The University of Saskatchewan has finalized a deal to buy a North Battleford feed mill as the site of a new national-scale feed research facility and license some of its production capacity to agrifood firm Cargill. The Canadian Feed Technology Research Facility, a $12.6 million project announced Monday, is expected to research, develop and commercialize […] Read more
Alta. hogs’ flu is human strain: CFIA
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed that the influenza virus found in hogs at a now-quarantined farm in central Alberta is the novel human strain of the H1N1 flu. The situation on the Alberta farm has been “isolated and contained,” federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a […] Read more
Cargill to sell Swift Current, Sask. feed mill
A Manitoba hog production firm has signed a deal to buy agrifood giant Cargill’s feed mill at Swift Current in southwestern Saskatchewan for an undisclosed sum. New Generation (NG) Pork Finishing Inc. and Cargill Animal Nutrition, the company’s Winnipeg-based Canadian feed production arm, expect to close their deal by May 15, Cargill said in a […] Read more
Maple Leaf’s listeria claim process underway
With approvals in place for the $27 million settlement of what Maple Leaf Foods calls the largest human food contamination class action in Canada’s history, Canadians now have until Nov. 2 to file claims for a piece of the settlement fund. Courts in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec have approved the company’s financial compensation package for […] Read more
New pork bans ripped as opportunistic
(Resource News International) — The placing of restrictions on Canadian pork products by numerous countries because of an outbreak of swine flu on a small Alberta hog operation was deemed totally unnecessary and was viewed more as opportunistic. “There is no threat to the safety of food in Canada,” said Neil Ketilson, general manager of […] Read more
Sickened Alta. hog herd tested for H1N1
A herd of reportedly over 2,000 hogs in Alberta has been placed under quarantine with what the Canadian Food Inspection Agency suspects to be the H1N1 virus that has so far sickened over 100 people in Canada. “It is highly probable that the pigs were exposed to the virus from a Canadian who had recently […] Read more
Flu name change may be too late
A decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to cease calling the latest flu virus originating in Mexico “swine flu” has done little to calm disarray in world hog and pork markets. “From today, WHO will refer to the new influenza virus as ‘influenza A (H1N1)’,” the WHO said in an announcement posted on its […] Read more
Canada’s COOL complaint likely to drag on
News that the Canadian Government has revived its World Trade Organization complaint regarding the U.S. Government’s mandatory Country Of Origin Labelling (COOL), legislation has been generally applauded by industry groups and individuals within Canada, but most say the time that will be spent on trying to win the case could be better spent in actual […] Read more
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