Livestock

The Mexican government pledged Thursday to continue its complaint against mandatory U.S. country-of-origin labelling (COOL) at the World Trade Organization, even though Canada has put its complaint on hold. The Reuters news service on Thursday reported that Agriculture Minister Alberto Cardenas has announced Mexico’s case will continue. Cardenas’ Canadian counterpart, Gerry Ritz, said earlier this […] Read more

The New Brunswick Farm Products Commission will raise the price consumers in that province pay for milk by 3.6 cents per litre starting Sunday (Feb. 1). “The price of milk in New Brunswick, factoring in the mid-year price increase approved in September, has risen 4.5 per cent this year over last,” said Hazen Myers, chairman […] Read more

Scientists at the University of Calgary say they may have found a common DNA denominator in animals infected with diseases such as BSE. And that, in turn, may mean BSE could eventually be confirmed simply and cheaply by a live blood test. A reasonably accurate method of testing live cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) […] Read more

A group of four connected farrow-to-finish barns, worth about $8 million when built in southeastern Saskatchewan in 1999, were wiped out Tuesday by fire, Saskatchewan media report. CBC in Saskatchewan reported Wednesday that the Bon Accord Barns at Jasmin, Sask., about 80 km west of Yorkton, were destroyed late Tuesday night. The barns, which are […] Read more

(Revised) — Manitoba’s pilot traceability program for the province’s food, food factories and farms has picked up funding to move toward a full launch. Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk announced Wednesday at Keystone Agricultural Producers’ (KAP) annual meeting in Winnipeg that the province has pledged over $400,000 in equipment and staffing costs to develop and launch […] Read more

A cull of about 60,000 birds on a B.C. poultry farm, where an H5 strain of avian flu was recently found, is now complete, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday. The birds were euthanized using carbon dioxide under supervision from federal and provincial animal welfare experts and a representative from the B.C. SPCA, the […] Read more

An Alberta judge recommends the province lift the exemption that excludes farms’ paid workers from provincial workplace safety regulations. Provincial Court Judge Peter Barley included that recommendation among several in his fatality inquiry into the June 2006 death of High River-area farm worker Kevan Chandler. Chandler, 35, died while trying to clear hung-up grain inside […] Read more

The British Columbia government, three B.C. forestry firms and a Vancouver Island community college will jointly fund a new scholarship in the name of the province’s late agriculture and lands minister, Stan Hagen. Hagen, the MLA for the island riding of Comox Valley, died Jan. 20 in Victoria at age 68, reportedly of a heart […] Read more

The Alberta Sheep and Wool Commission will officially rebrand itself Feb. 1 to reflect its producer members’ focus on the meat market. Provincial Agriculture Minister George Groeneveld on Wednesday approved an order in council to change the commission’s name to Alberta Lamb Producers, effective Sunday (Feb. 1). The commission’s directors at their Dec. 10 meeting […] Read more