Livestock
A five-year-old dairy cow from an unnamed region of British Columbia was Canada’s 13th case of BSE, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday. Though the animal was born well after Ottawa originally imposed its 1997 ban on the use of ruminant tissues in feed for ruminant livestock, CFIA said in a release that the […] Read more
B.C. BSE case was five-year-old dairy cow
XL Foods to buy Lakeside Packers
U.S. meat giant Tyson Foods plans to sell one of the largest beef packing plants in Canada to an Alberta rival. Saying its Lakeside Farm Industries plant “no longer fits the long-term strategy of our company,” Tyson CEO Richard Bond announced in a release Wednesday that the company will sell Lakeside to XL Foods, owned […] Read more
Food prices not yet seen cutting beef demand
(Resource News International) — Rising prices in general for food in Canada’s grocery stores haven’t yet translated into reduced demand for beef products, according to an official with the Beef Information Centre (BIC). “Is the Canadian beef sector immune from the rise in prices? I would say not, but there does not appear to be […] Read more
Financing lined up for E. coli vaccine plant
An Ontario firm’s planned scale-up of production for an E. coli vaccine for cattle is now fully financed, the company announced Wednesday. Pharmaceutical firm Bioniche Life Sciences of Belleville said it has picked up an extension on a pre-existing $7.6 million contribution agreement with Industry Canada from its Industrial Technologies Office. The amended agreement extends […] Read more
Better certificates boost pork access to Russia
(Resource News International) — Enhanced security features on Canadian meat certificates played an important role in recently improving Canada’s access to Russian pork markets, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Tuesday. Ritz was in Russia to participate in a meeting of the Russia-Canada agriculture working group of the Intergovernmental Economic Commission. In response to a […] Read more
Hagen renamed B.C. ag minister in shuffle
A former British Columbia agriculture minister will take on the portfolio again in a cabinet shuffle Monday by Premier Gordon Campbell. Comox Valley MLA Stan Hagen, who has been Campbell’s minister for tourism, sport and the arts since 2006, takes over from Pat Bell as minister of agriculture and lands. Bell, the Prince George MLA […] Read more
Canada’s 13th mad cow found in B.C.
Few details have been released so far about Canada’s 13th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), found in a cow in British Columbia. Details not yet available Monday in the CFIA’s announcement include the animal’s age, and the area of the province where it was found. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a release […] Read more
Man. pork co-op to shut assembly yard
The Manitoba Pork Marketing Co-op plans to close its St. Boniface hog assembly yard this Friday after 43 years, as it plans a new location on Winnipeg’s outskirts. And in light of lower operating costs as a result, the co-op said it will lower its marketing fee starting July 7. The MPMC, in a release […] Read more
Don’t turn PKI pigeons loose: Fanciers
Farmers in Canada and the U.S. left holding flocks of pigeons after the reported bankruptcy of Pigeon King International shouldn’t just release the birds, a national fanciers’ group urged Monday. Ontario farm media reported last week that farmers in several provinces who had invested in meat pigeons through Waterloo, Ont. company PKI have now received […] Read more
Sask. Stock Growers endorse single group
Members of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association will support the idea of a new umbrella group to represent Saskatchewan cattle producers. A resolution to support such a group, to be called the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, got approval from SSGA members at the group’s annual meeting, which wrapped up Tuesday in Saskatoon. “The stock growers agreed […] Read more
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