Livestock

Beef prices have been depressed along with the general economy but rebound when it improves, says a Purdue University agricultural economist. “As beef cow numbers continue to drop, beef exports continue to improve and the world economy begins to heal, the magnitude of price improvement may be robust by sometime in 2010,” Chris Hurt said […] Read more

The Alberta government unveiled a $30-million catalyst package April 22 to spur innovation and diversification in that province’s livestock and meat industry. Five new grant programs will be delivered by the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA). The programs focus on international market development; value-added market development; research and development; industry development; and on-farm technology […] Read more

Public agencies’ response to last summer’s listeriosis outbreak suffered from a lack of co-ordination that led to “public confusion” that shook people’s confidence in the public health system, a new report finds. Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, on Friday released his report into the outbreak, urging that “more needs to be […] Read more

A farmed herd of elk in western Saskatchewan is scheduled to be destroyed after one of the elk tested positive for chronic wasting disease, CBC reported Friday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recently confirmed an elk that died last month on the hunt farm and breeding ranch near North Battleford had tested positive for CWD, […] Read more

Coming under public pressure to fix a bill seen as giving the Alberta government “unfettered powers to take land,” the province now plans amendments to give landowners “greater certainty.” The province’s Bill 19, introduced last month, is a “land assembly” act that lays out the process for the province to designate land it may need […] Read more

The Springhill Farms pork processing plant at Neepawa, Man. has finalized an agreement with the town to allow for upgrades to the packer’s wastewater treatment plant. The upgrades, if completed by early April 2010 as planned, could allow Springhill to expand its processing capacity to nearly 1.4 million hogs per year, up from about 900,000 […] Read more

The non-profit association that runs Canadian Western Agribition has posted a 14 per cent increase in revenue from the major fall farm show for 2008 over 2007. During its annual meeting this week in Regina, the CWA board heard show revenues, including admissions, tickets, program sales and food sales rose 14 per cent to $1.029 […] Read more

An Alberta fresh pork processor has moved to a “state-of-the-art” DNA traceability system that can trace its pork from the retail meat case back to the processor and farm of origin. Sturgeon Valley Pork, a federally inspected facility supplying the western Canadian market from St. Albert, northwest of Edmonton, said in a release Wednesday that […] Read more

An Ontario poultry processor has launched a new high-pressure processing system designed to protect its deli meats against bacteria such as listeria. Maple Lodge Farms of Brampton said in a release Wednesday that it’s the first poultry processor in the country to invest in the SafeSure high pressure processing (HPP) system specifically for its deli […] Read more