Livestock
Ontario’s Gay Lea Foods has announced $140 million in projects to be spent over four years to dramatically increase dairy ingredient processing in the province. The announcement last week in Teeswater, Ont., is the result of several years of work to bring revitalized ingredients processing to the province and to stem the flow of milk […] Read more
Dairy ingredients strategy starts to drive investment
Investors press meat producers to cut water pollution
Reuters — Forty-five large investors collectively managing C$1.6 trillion in assets are pressing some of the nation’s largest meat producers to set policies for reducing water pollution in their feeding, slaughtering and processing operations. The investors, who are members of sustainability non-profit advocate Ceres and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), sent letters to […] Read more
U.S. October feedlot cattle placements hit four-year low
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. feedlots in October received five per cent fewer cattle than a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday, a four-year low for that month that was in line with average trade predictions. Ranchers grew cattle outside of feedlots longer thanks to still healthy grazing pastures in parts of […] Read more
Trump pledges U.S. withdrawal from TPP on ‘day one’
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to start the United States’ exit from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal on “day one” of his administration in January. In a video released Monday, Trump said his transition team had been directed to put together “a list of executive actions we can take on day one” […] Read more
Smithfield Foods to buy Farmer John from Hormel
Reuters — Smithfield Foods said it would buy parent of the Farmer John and Saag’s Specialty Meats brands, and farm operations in three U.S. states from Hormel Foods for US$145 million in cash. Smithfield will buy Clougherty Packing as well as hog farm operations under PFFJ, or Pigs for Farmer John, in California, Arizona and […] Read more
Quarantine comes with a ‘devastating’ cost
There are roughly 10,000 cattle under quarantine, and every animal can cost as much as $3 a day in feed and yardage
Reading Time: 5 minutes Ranches under quarantine in southeastern Alberta could be collectively losing $15,000 to $30,000 per day feeding and caring for the roughly 10,000 cattle they can neither move nor sell. And much of that money may never be recovered, which is prompting calls for a new approach to compensating producers whose herds are being investigated for […] Read more
When it comes to bovine TB, a closed herd is a safer herd
Bovine tuberculosis usually isn’t discovered until an animal reaches the packing plant
Reading Time: 2 minutes Initial symptoms for bovine tuberculosis can be “quite vague” and hard to spot. “The general symptoms for an animal infected are depression, lethargy, and chronic weight loss,” said Dr. Cody Creelman, who works at Veterinary Agri-Health Services in Airdrie. “You may or may not see a fever, and as it progresses and gets quite severe, […] Read more
Gay Lea lays out dairy processing expansion plans
A dairy farmer co-op on an aggressive growth track has mapped out its next four years’ worth of expansions and upgrades, starting with a storied processing plant in southwestern Ontario. Gay Lea Foods Co-operative on Wednesday announced a budget of $140 million over four years to set up what it describes as an “innovative nutrition […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle gain slightly before USDA report
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures nearby contracts posted modest gains on Friday as traders tweaked positions before the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly Cattle on Feed report at 2 p.m. CT. Most analysts, on average, believe fewer animals were put into feedlots in October than a year ago. December live […] Read more
Maple Leaf to shut southern Ontario turkey plant
Maple Leaf Foods plans to outsource all its fresh turkey processing to another company’s southern Ontario plant in 2018 after shutting its own operation. The company announced Tuesday it will close its plant at Thamesford, Ont., east of London, after phasing its production over the next 18 months into Sofina Foods’ plant at Mitchell, about […] Read more