Livestock
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada and South Korea are “very, very close” to diplomatically resolving an eight-year-old dispute over Canada’s beef exports, the Canadian agriculture minister said Mar. 23. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said talks have made progress as a decision from a World Trade Organization panel approaches. “We’re hoping we can do something diplomatically,” he said on an […] Read more
South Korea And China Seen Opening Soon For Beef
CFIA widens radiation testing, includes B.C. milk
Canada’s sampling and testing regime for radiation from Japan’s nuclear crisis has been expanded to include domestically-produced milk from British Columbia along with food products imported from Japan. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency emphasized in a statement Wednesday that it has yet to detect related radionuclides — atoms or atomic particles emitting radiation — at […] Read more
Quebec to deploy advisory team for beef producers
Quebec’s agriculture ministry plans to set up a team of 15 “front-line” advisors to provide consulting services to the province’s beef cattle producers. The service, which provincial Agriculture Minister Pierre Corbeil announced Wednesday, is meant to focus on the technical, agronomic and genetic aspects of the business and help ranchers improve their operations’ effectiveness. Such […] Read more
Hog groups moving on PRRS-free certification pilot
Prairie hog producer agencies are close to launch on a pilot program to certify hog herds as free of a costly viral disease. The Canadian Swine Health Board is spearheading a protocol under which farmers selling hogs or boar semen will be able to certify their herds or product as free of porcine reproductive and […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle prices consolidate
Feeder steers ranging from 700 to 750 pounds brought back $133 per hundredweight (cwt) in central Alberta last week while lighter eight-weight cattle sold for $126/cwt. The feeder market appears to be consolidating at the higher levels, with feedyard managers extremely cautious after last week’s U.S. Department of Agriculture report. U.S. corn stocks as of […] Read more
N.S. meat plant to be retooled as poultry packer
A western Nova Scotia prepared meats plant, slated to be shut down by the end of this month, is now to be sold and reopened by summer next year as a poultry packer. Eden Valley Poultry, a joint venture between poultry producers in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and Brampton, Ont. poultry processor Maple […] Read more
New compensation caps finalized for destroyed poultry
Chicken and turkey producers whose birds are ordered destroyed in any future disease outbreak can now expect improved rates of federal compensation. Previously-announced changes to the federal Compensation for Destroyed Animals Regulations have already taken effect but were fully released and published Wednesday. The amendments raise the maximum amounts of compensation to “better reflect… the […] Read more
CFIA to streamline feed ingredient approvals
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency plans to rework the approval process for livestock feed ingredients to get approved new products to market faster. The agency’s proposed changes to the federal Feeds Regulations would allow for the “immediate” manufacture or import and sale of a new feed ingredient, either as a feed by itself or in […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle trend stalls
Western Canadian feeder cattle prices took a break from the upward trend and traded on a softer tone last week. Adverse wet weather in the most regions had buyers discounting the market as they factor in feedlot inefficiencies. At the same time, the Alberta slaughter market was steady to $2 higher, limiting the slippage in […] Read more
Late spring means more feed barley needs for cattle
Wet and cool conditions across the Prairies are expected to keep cattle producers buying feed barley, as their livestock will be headed out to pasture later than usual. Jim Beusekom, grain merchant with Marketplace Commodities at Lethbridge, Alta., said that for the time being at least, demand for barley should remain steady from cattle farmers. […] Read more
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