Livestock

The Mexican government has loosened its restrictions on Canadian beef and cattle to allow the import of breeding cattle from Canada. In a release Saturday, the Mexican agriculture department said it will expand Canadian exporters’ market access starting next month to include beef and dairy breeding cattle, as well as previously allowed shipments of beef […] Read more

The Ontario Cattlemen’s Association has picked Gord Hardy, a Middlesex County feedlot operator, as its new president. Hardy, an OCA director for southern Ontario since 2000 and most recently the beef producer group’s vice-president, replaces Elgin County cow-calf operator Ian McKillop, who stepped down from the president’s chair. Hardy and his family also grow corn, […] Read more

Cattle producers looking to cut their reliance on increasingly expensive feed grains are expected to benefit from a $5.2 million deal for research in Manitoba on grass and forage feeding. The federal and provincial governments and the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association announced the agreement Friday at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Brandon Research Centre. The federal […] Read more

Cutting costs and raising prices allowed Maple Leaf Foods to significantly boost its annual net income in 2007, the company reported Thursday. The Toronto-based company, one of Canada’s main food processing firms, posted net earnings of $207.1 million on sales of $5.21 billion in 2007, up from $4.5 million on $5.32 billion in 2006. However, […] Read more

Manitoba’s provincial government will offer beleaguered hog producers $60 million in new loans and a loan-deferral program for the province’s cattle producers. The province, through its Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC), will provide the hog loans at “attractive” interest rates to help producers facing “significant cash flow challenges,” the Manitoba government said in a release […] Read more

Valcartier, Que. turkey farmer Brent Montgomery has been appointed the new vice-chairperson of the national council supervising supply management for poultry and eggs. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced Montgomery’s appointment to the National Farm Products Council on Wednesday, for a term running to April 29, 2011. Montgomery, the mayor of the Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier municipality, has […] Read more

Manitoba has named a task force to review the distribution of — and increased demands on — veterinarians handling livestock in the province. The review will look at how veterinary services are distributed, systems currently in place for early warning and surveillance of both local and foreign animal diseases, and how effectively provincial services are […] Read more

Hog and poultry producers will no longer need a Canadian Food Inspection Agency permit to feed food products such as stale-dated bread, pasteurized milk and vegetable wastes to their livestock, the agency announced Wednesday. The agency has previously issued permits to livestock producers, albeit very few and all in Eastern Canada, for the feeding of […] Read more