Livestock

Applications are now available for Manitoba’s promised program to help producers pay to haul feed or move livestock due to excess moisture or drought, as the federal government sweetens the program pot. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Friday announced $6.1 million for the Manitoba Forage Assistance Program (MFAP), bringing total funding to $10.2 million for […] Read more

The agencies developing agri-food traceability systems for Ontario and Quebec have signed a deal to exchange information on premises identification. OnTrace Agri-Food Traceability and Agri-Tracabilite Quebec (ATQ) announced Thursday that their deal will allow them to “seamlessly share information about premises that are involved in movement of agri-food products between Quebec and Ontario,” according to […] Read more

Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice has approved feed maker Ridley’s $6 million settlement proposal to end its exposure to a proposed class-action suit brought by cattle producers over the arrival of BSE in the Canadian cattle herd. The court on Wednesday gave its provisional approval to the February 2008 settlement agreement, subject to the company […] Read more

The federal and Nova Scotia governments have promised support for Cape Breton farmers struggling with recent “overwhelming” rains. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and his provincial counterpart, Brooke Taylor, said Monday that they are “committed” to “find ways to help producers in Cape Breton.” Ritz said he would “immediately” send senior officials from Agriculture and […] Read more

Manitoba farms and farm-related industries will soon have to carry workers’ compensation coverage for their employees. Following the recommendations of the provincial Workers Compensation Board in a report released in June, the province will extend mandatory WCB coverage to an additional 7,500 employers and 30,000 workers, starting January 1, 2009. In the ag sector, this […] Read more

New Brunswick’s new pilot project to open the public board appointment process to applications from the public will now include the provincial Farm Products Commission. The province announced Tuesday it is accepting “expressions of interest” from people who are “committed to the sustainability of the province’s agriculture industry,” Agriculture Minister Ron Ouellette said in a […] Read more

Yukon farmers are expected to be among the beneficiaries of a proposed “limited harvest” of elk in the territory in 2009, the government said Monday. The Yukon government, which adopted a new elk management plan in June, said Monday it will begin work with First Nations and other stakeholders on some more of the plan’s […] Read more

A new European study suggests your cattle may be among the animal species that have a built-in compass. Quoted Tuesday in an Associated Press report by Randolph Schmid, a joint German/Czech study led by biologists Hynek Burda and Sabine Begall of the University of Duisburg-Essen found that cattle at rest or grazing show a statistical […] Read more

New Brunswick’s dairy consumers will pay 3.5 cents per litre more for milk beginning Sept. 1, the New Brunswick Farm Products Commission announced Tuesday. “The price adjustment is wholly based on the effects of the rise of fuel costs throughout the supply chain,” chairman Hazen Myers said in a provincial release. “Rising fuel costs not […] Read more

Tarred with a link to a listeriosis outbreak now connected to six deaths in Ontario and illnesses in four provinces, plus a costly product recall, Maple Leaf Foods has re-thought its plans to reopen an affected Toronto meat processing plant on Tuesday. The food processing company announced Monday night that it will now delay the […] Read more