Livestock

The man in charge of port terminals for Canada’s biggest grain company is now its vice-president of livestock and feed services. Bill Mooney, the director of terminals for Viterra, takes over the new post effective immediately and will operate out of the company’s Okotoks, Alta. office, Viterra announced Thursday. Mooney has been in the grain […] Read more

The head of the research arm of the American Meat Institute will be the chief food safety officer for Maple Leaf Foods. Randy Huffman will take his new post Jan. 5, reporting to the Toronto meat processing giant’s CEO, Michael McCain. Huffman is currently president of the AMI Foundation, the research, education and information wing […] Read more

Food processing firm Premium Brands says it was able to post a record quarter in spite of the blow to consumer confidence from Maple Leaf Foods’ major meat recall this summer. The Richmond, B.C. income fund, formerly known as Fletcher’s Fine Foods, with specialty food and distribution businesses across Western Canada, reported earnings of $7.33 […] Read more

The Nova Scotia government has introduced new legislation calling for a property tax exemption on private land used for conservation. The proposed Conservation Property Tax Exemption Act would make landowners eligible for an exemption, encouraging them to protect their land by taking away the financial disadvantage from a property tax perspective, the province said in […] Read more

Saskatchewan’s government plans to offer its Crown ag land leaseholders a new incentive to buy their leased land. Under the new five-year incentive program starting Nov. 15, leaseholders will have a “sliding scale” incentive to buy their leased land, starting in the first year with a 10 per cent discount on the sale price. That […] Read more

Cost-cutting at home and higher sales volumes in its U.S. and Argentinean operations helped raise Saputo’s profits by $6.5 million in the Quebec dairy giant’s second quarter. Saputo posted net earnings of $69.03 million on $1.45 billion in revenues in its quarter ending Sept. 30, up from $62.52 million on $1.29 billion in the year-earlier […] Read more

The Quebec and federal governments and the province’s dairy industry have pledged $3 million to support research that boosts the competitiveness of Quebec’s dairy farmers and processors. The new Programme de recherche en partenariat pour l’innovation en production et en transformation laitières, announced Tuesday, is expected to support about 15 projects, with an eye toward […] Read more

The Ontario government will put up $500,000 for on-farm projects to lower phosphorus levels on Lake Simcoe. The 722-sq.km lake, about 50 km north of Toronto and known for its ice-fishing, has also been known for years to suffer from eutrophication — excessive levels of aquatic plant growth due to high phosphorus levels from urban […] Read more

Maxime Arseneau, who served as Quebec’s agriculture minister in Bernard Landry’s Parti Quebecois government, has announced he won’t seek a fourth term in the next provincial election. Arseneau, a teacher by profession and the MNA for the Iles-de-la-Madeleine riding since 1998, was the tourism minister (1998-2001) for then-premier Lucien Bouchard before taking on the agriculture, […] Read more