Livestock

Changes to the Yukon’s game farm regulations will allow the public to buy territorially-inspected game meats from Yukon retailers and restaurants. “With this change, Yukon-grown products will be made available locally and will create better access to markets,” territory Environment Minister Elaine Taylor said in a release Thursday. Up until now, the Yukon’s game farming […] Read more

A report by the British Columbia government and Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce finds one in four private-sector jobs supported by the ag sector in B.C.’s fifth-largest city. Provincial Agriculture Minister Ron Cantelon on Tuesday released a report that shows farming in the Abbotsford area provides 11,300 full-time jobs. As well, it supports one in every […] Read more

Plans to shut down farm operations at six federal correctional facilities across Canada imply that the federal government considers farming and food production “outmoded and irrelevant,” the National Farmers Union says. Media outlets last week reported that the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) plans to close prison farms at Kingston, Ont., Dorchester, N.B., Stony Mountain, […] Read more

The income tax deferrals offered to Canadian livestock producers on drought-induced breeding stock sales have now been extended to flood-induced sales. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced the expanded deferrals Thursday in Winnipeg, starting with the tax owed by producers in Manitoba’s Interlake and Westlake, the regions west of both Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg, […] Read more

Maple Leaf Foods has moved to scotch what it sees as “any inference” that it would have tried to keep information about last summer’s listeria outbreak from the public. The meat processing firm on Wednesday responded to a report by the Canadian Press news agency, which quoted handwritten notes from a July 24, 2008 meeting […] Read more

More livestock producers in all four western provinces will be eligible to defer part of their income taxes from the sale of animals in cases where drought forced a producer’s hand. In four separate press releases Tuesday, the federal government expanded the drought-induced income tax deferral zones to include 48 more rural municipalities in southern […] Read more

The Yukon government plans to hire a chief veterinary officer and support staff as part of a new animal health program for the territory. The territory on Tuesday pledged $320,000 for the program, subject to legislative approval. The program “will help us keep our wild and domestic animal populations healthy and viable, which in turn […] Read more

Jemstar Farms, a fixture in southwestern Ontario’s cattle feeding industry and one of the top cattle operations in the province, will close the book later this month on its 45-year history. The farm, owned and operated by brothers Bob, Dave and Jim Cooke of Walkerton, will host a complete dispersal auction March 25 for its […] Read more

New provincial legislation will lay out the process the Alberta government must follow to assemble land for major projects such as new roads or utility corridors. Telegraphed early last month by the government in advance of the new legislative session, the Land Assembly Project Area Act was introduced in the legislature Monday. The act would […] Read more

Ontario’s new animal welfare legislation, which took effect Sunday, creates a new offence for causing animals distress and requires veterinarians to report suspected abuse or neglect. Drafted in a way that the province says will protect generally accepted livestock production practices, the new legislation amending the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is billed as […] Read more