Livestock

A “routine” detection of listeria at one of Maple Leaf Foods’ processing facilities in Toronto shows its overhauled food safety protocols are working as they should, the company said. Ordinarily, other than a quick recall announcement, findings of listeria at food plants rarely linger in the national news. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week […] Read more

Staff from Nova Scotia’s labour and workforce development department have gone to Kentville to start meeting with about 300 workers facing layoffs from two major poultry processing plants. ACA Co-operative plans to permanently close its money-losing Eastern Protein Foods, putting almost 190 people out of work by early March, the co-operative’s management told reporters Thursday. […] Read more

British Columbia’s former agriculture minister, Abbotsford-Clayburn MLA John van Dongen, will handle the portfolio on an interim basis following the death of Agriculture Minister Stan Hagen. Hagen, 68, died suddenly Tuesday in Victoria, reportedly of a heart attack. Currently in Premier Gordon Campbell’s cabinet as solicitor general and minister for public safety, van Dongen was […] Read more

The U.S. government’s final rule on mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) for meat and other foods will go back to U.S. President Barack Obama’s new agriculture secretary for review. Obama, who was sworn in Tuesday, replacing George W. Bush, has directed U.S. federal officials to delay for 60 days the effective date of regulations passed in […] Read more

Federal tax dollars will back a research project to see if peat moss will fit dairy farmers’ needs as a source of bedding for their cows in Newfoundland and Labrador. “We are exploring opportunities to use Newfoundland and Labrador’s abundant peat moss supply as a more affordable and potentially healthier alternative to traditional bedding materials […] Read more

The former CEO of Edmonton’s Capital Health region will head up Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s long-promised inquiry into last summer’s listeriosis outbreak in Canadian-made lunch meats. Sheila Weatherill, now an associate member of the University of Alberta’s faculty of nursing and vice-chair of Edmonton-based power company Epcor’s board of directors, is to look at the […] Read more

Ontario Pork’s preliminary plan to carry out deregulation of its single marketing desk for hogs includes a to-do list going well past the April deadline asked of the hog marketing agency. The agency said Monday that it has met its Jan. 15 deadline to submit a preliminary implementation plan to the Ontario Farm Products Marketing […] Read more

The Manitoba government will top up funding to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan to cover the cost of two more first-year spots at the school. The province’s pledge, announced Tuesday at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon, is part of the province’s initial response to the release of the final […] Read more

The Canadian Pork Council will pare back its board from 18 to 11 members under a new structure to take effect this month. The council on Monday also announced a new corporate logo and its move to a new office on Laurier Avenue West, about five blocks south of Parliament Hill. The CPC said Monday […] Read more

The Canadian government has reached an agreement in principle to begin restoring Canadian beef producers’ market access to Hong Kong. The agreement, which federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced Friday from Hong Kong, “immediately expands key export opportunities for Canadian beef and sets out a clear time table to open that market to all commercially-significant […] Read more