Livestock

The University of Saskatchewan’s veterinary college has stopped all non-emergency treatment of horses at its large-animal clinic while attempting to stem an outbreak of equine herpes near Saskatoon. The Western College of Veterinary Medicine stopped non-emergency horse work in mid-March after admitting two horses from a local riding stable, both of which were later found […] Read more

Quebec poultry processing co-operative Exceldor has announced it will close its plant at Grenville August 1, according to farm newspaper La terre de chez nous. The co-op, which bought Volailles Grenville in March 2007, announced to the plant’s employees in June 2007 that it would consolidate its fresh poultry slaughter and processing operations in its […] Read more

Quebec’s cattle producers have voted their approval of an extra checkoff to support the producer-owned Levinoff-Colbex beef packing plant, according to the farm newspaper La terre de chez nous. During their annual general assembly Thursday in Quebec City, a majority of the province’s cattle producers backed a resolution favouring a $30 million top-up for the […] Read more

The Ontario government will expand the powers available to animal welfare inspectors and boost its penalties for animal cruelty offenses in legislation expected to be introduced Wednesday. The province said in a release Wednesday that the overhaul of its Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act will allow “appropriate exemptions” in cases involving animal agriculture, veterinary […] Read more

Citing new federal regulations that made it uncompetitive, cull cow packer Gencor Foods (GFI) has shut down its Kitchener, Ont. plant effective Tuesday, laid off its 124 workers and announced plans to file for bankruptcy. GFI, a subsidiary of Ontario’s producer-owned livestock genetics company Gencor, formed three years ago to process cull cows after the […] Read more

Limits on ag support payments to larger producers have led “directly” to Saskatchewan’s second largest pork producer filing for bankruptcy protection, according to the provincial pork development board. SaskPork said in a release Wednesday that Stomp Pork Farms (SPF) filed to buy time to develop a new plan and restructure its debt with creditors, while […] Read more

Prince Edward Island’s government plans to flow some of the $13.7 million it will receive from the federal Community Development Trust toward agriculture programs. Premier Robert Ghiz and Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed P.E.I.’s share of the trust funding in a press release Monday. The federal government’s $1 billion Community Development Trust, launched in January […] Read more

Mediation has led to a settlement agreement in principle for the Toronto pet food maker among the companies hit hardest by last year’s pet food scare involving Chinese melamine. Menu Foods announced Tuesday that the parties to a multi-district lawsuit by pet owners in both the U.S. and Canada have reached a “comprehensive, cross-border agreement […] Read more

A World Trade Organization panel has found the European Union’s ban on Canadian and U.S. beef to be inconsistent with the bloc’s WTO obligations, but doesn’t let Canada off the hook for its retaliation. The EU since 1989 has banned Canadian and U.S. beef from hormone-treated cattle, while the two exporters claim the Europeans have […] Read more

A study on processing flax as a feed supplement for dairy cows and development of a greenhouse gas calculator for the dairy sector are among four projects in Atlantic Canada sharing $1.1 million in new federal funding. The funding, announced Friday in Fredericton by New Brunswick MP Mike Allen, will flow through the Advancing Canadian […] Read more