Livestock

A voluntary program for Canadian processors and retailers to identify Canadian-grown pork on store shelves will get $1.39 million in federal funding. Southern Ontario MP Gary Schellenberger made the announcement late Friday, saying the project “will provide Canadian families with the information they want to choose home-grown Canadian pork.” The voluntary program will be available […] Read more

Execuserv Plus, a Lethbridge management consulting firm, has signed on to deliver the Canadian Agricultural Skills Service (CASS) program to farmers in southern Alberta. The company’s contract runs until March 31, 2009, when the five-year federal/provincial Agricultural Policy Framework officially ends, the province said Friday. The APF, which funded CASS, was extended in November to […] Read more

Ongoing surveillance of Canada’s wild bird population turned up no cases of highly pathogenic avian flu in 2007, according to the annual inter-agency wild bird influenza survey. The 2007 survey included testing of wild birds along main Canadian migratory routes as well as in Iceland, where birds were sampled during their migration from Western Europe […] Read more

Saskatchewan will temporarily open about 90,000 acres of Fish and Wildlife Development Fund lands this summer for farmers to graze livestock. Starting Sunday (June 15) and running until Sept. 15, livestock producers dealing with drought in southern Saskatchewan can apply to graze animals on eligible wildlife land on a first-come, first-served basis. Producers interested in […] Read more

Legislation passed Wednesday to update the governance of La Financiere agricole du Quebec (FAQ) will continue to set aside five seats on FAQ’s board for the province’s general farmer organization. Under the legislation as passed, l’Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) will designate nominees for five of 15 seats on the provincial ag lender’s newly expanded […] Read more

Over 300 “frustrated and angry” people remain to speak on Manitoba’s planned moratorium on expansion of hog production after three days of hearings by the legislature’s ag committee, the province’s hog producer group reported Tuesday. The Manitoba Pork Council said in a release that 319 people remain on the speakers’ list for the latest committee […] Read more

Manitoba’s Workers Compensation Board (WCB) supports broadening of mandatory workers’ comp to several sectors where it’s now optional, but has stopped short of recommending farms or any other business be added, the province reported Tuesday. Provincial Labour Minister Nancy Allan said the province accepts the WCB report’s recommendation to broaden mandatory coverage and plans to […] Read more

A new provincial study finds that a dairy production and processing operation in Labrador would be a cash-losing proposition in the millions of dollars over the longer term. The Newfoundland and Labrador government commissioned the study at the request of the Lake Melville Agricultural Association, to explore the feasibility of a dairy operation and processing […] Read more

The federal government is finalizing details on how it will implement a new, enhanced surveillance program for avian flu viruses in Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday. The enhanced Canadian Notifiable Avian Influenza Surveillance System (CanNAISS) has been designed to meet current guidelines from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), as well […] Read more