Livestock
Feeder steers weighing 525 pounds brought back $160 per hundredweight last week in central Alberta as feedlot buyers continue to be aggressive with nearby purchases. Overall, the feeder market was $1 to $3 higher across Western Canada. Anticipated strength in the fed cattle market for the September through December timeframe is driving demand for lightweight […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder prices consolidate
Alta. adds calves to cattle price insurance plan
Alberta’s provincial price insurance program for livestock producers has rolled out a third component to cover calves. The province on Monday launched the voluntary Cattle Price Insurance Program-Calf (CPIP-Calf), on the heels of CPIP-Fed and CPIP-Feeder in 2009 and 2010 respectively. The new offering also comes ahead of a provincial price insurance program for hogs, […] Read more
Ont. sets up bee quarantine area in southwest
In a bid to prevent small hive beetle from spreading across Ontario, the province has imposed a quarantine area for bees in southwestern Ontario’s Essex County and part of the Chatham-Kent municipality. The declaration, issued Monday, follows confirmation last September of small hive beetle (aethina tumida) in Essex County, after which the province’s ag ministry […] Read more
Pullet producers seek status outside the egg
A national group of pullet growers wants to reposition itself within Canada’s supply management system, separate from the egg groups that have represented them so far. The group, formerly known as the National Pullet Growers Association and now rebranded as Pullet Growers of Canada (PGC), said Monday it will seek “Part 2 Agency” status under […] Read more
DDGS market still solid, but demand easing
Prices for dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) have been holding steady and in most cases trending higher, but with those values strong, demand for the ethanol byproduct has been easing. Ryan Slozka, senior commodity trader with Rycom Trading in Kelowna, B.C., said lower cattle numbers in the country have meant less DDGS being used, […] Read more
Appeal court upholds milk minimums in cheesemaking
Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal has rejected a legal volley from cheesemaking giants Kraft Canada and Saputo against federal regulators’ compositional standards for cheese. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in a release Friday, claimed the win for official Ottawa as per a ruling handed down last week by Justice Robert Mainville, who dismissed Kraft and […] Read more
Ont. packers named for interprovincial pilot program
The Ontario government has named its three provincially-inspected meat packing firms set to take part in pilot projects aimed at boosting interprovincial meat trade. Farmer-owned beef processor VG Packers of Simcoe, pork and deli meat processor Schinkel’s Legacy of Chatham and pork, turkey and deli meat processor Sikorski Sausages of London will get funding for […] Read more
Ont. processor backed for turkey bacon packing
A southwestern Ontario poultry processor has picked up a federal loan for a new high-pressure packaging system for its turkey bacon products. Golden Valley Farms will get a repayable contribution of over $500,000 from the federal AgriProcessing Initiative to buy and install a hyperbaric packaging system at its plant at Arthur, about 40 km northwest […] Read more
Que. pork group’s chief moves to MAPAQ
The director general of Quebec’s hog producer organization is leaving his post for a new job next month in the province’s ag ministry. The Quebec government on Wednesday announced Bernard Verret will join the provincial ag, food and fisheries department (MAPAQ) starting April 4 as an assistant deputy minister to Agriculture Minister Pierre Corbeil. A […] Read more
BSE net catches Alberta dairy cow: CFIA
The national BSE surveillance system has confirmed a six-year-old Alberta dairy cow as Canada’s first case of BSE in almost a year. The 77-month-old animal was confirmed Feb. 18 to have had the brain-wasting disease, making it Canada’s 18th domestic case since 2003. As per Canadian Food Inspection Agency policy in place since 2009, the […] Read more
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