Livestock

Strong sales growth in the U.S. improved the first-quarter bottom line for Winnipeg feed maker Ridley Inc., despite tough times for its Canadian customers, the company reported Friday. The company, which also operates a U.S. head office in Minnesota, posted $2.6 million in net earnings on $139.8 million in sales for the quarter ending Sept. […] Read more

Canada’s national meat industry groups urge consumers to take “caution” with some of the recommendations from the World Cancer Research Fund’s recent report on cancer risk stemming from diet, physical activity and obesity. The British-based cancer group on Tuesday sent ripples through the North American meat industry with its report, in which recommendations to help […] Read more

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has lifted most of the restrictions on movement of poultry in and through Saskatchewan after testing found no more cases of avian influenza H7N3 in the province. The highly pathogenic strain of bird flu killed some animals on a poultry farm in the Regina Beach area, north of Regina, in […] Read more

Elk farmers in the Yukon can expect to be consulted on a proposal to use medicated feed for tick control in the wild elk population. Territory Environment Minister Dennis Fentie said Tuesday that the government plans a three-phase approach to manage and remove the winter tick infestation that’s hit wild elk in the Yukon. Department […] Read more

Hog farmers in Nova Scotia will get immediate payments through the Targeted Advance Payment program to help deal with “financial difficulties” in the hog sector, Ag Minister Brooke Taylor announced Tuesday. Eligible farmers will be contacted soon and given information on how much of an advance they may be eligible to get. Farmers who aren’t […] Read more

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has re-appointed the three newly re-elected MPPs in charge of the province’s farm and rural portfolios back to Cabinet. Hastings-Frontenac Lennox MPP Leona Dombrowsky, who represents the Napanee and Belleville area, was returned Tuesday as minister for agriculture, food and rural affairs, a post she’s held since 2005. Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Maria […] Read more

Quebec’s provincial farm finance agency is considering an early advance on the insurance program advances it provides to hog farmers. In a release Friday, La Financiere agricole said that after meeting with the hog farmers’ association, la Federation des producteurs de porcs, and taking into account the current situation in the hog sector, it would […] Read more

British Columbia’s veterinary medical association will get funding to improve how it assesses credentials and approves licenses, in order to import new veterinarians from other countries. The province on Monday announced about $497,000 for 17 professional regulatory bodies to improve those assessments and licensing practices, after making the offer to those professional bodies through a […] Read more

Alberta farmers have beaten their province’s target for completing Environmental Farm Plans (EFPs). The federal and provincial governments reported Friday that over 7,000 Alberta farmers had completed EFPs. That’s above a provincial target of 6,500 for 2007-08, as noted in the provincial agriculture department’s business plan in March this year. According to that plan, the […] Read more

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s E. coli investigation of shuttered beef packing co-op Ranchers Beef Ltd. has so far led it to British Columbia, where it’s ordered a recall of six different package types of burgers and chuck. The recalled products listed by CFIA include boneless chuck steak and ground beef sold at Shoppers Wholesale […] Read more