Ottawa | Reuters — Unhappy Canadian dairy farmers parked dozens of tractors in central Ottawa and walked their cows down the main street opposite Parliament on Tuesday to protest trade talks they said could cripple them. Canada is one of 12 Pacific Rim countries trying to nail down a trade deal in Atlanta this week. […] Read more
Farmers, upset over TPP talks, take cows to Parliament
McDonald’s cage-free egg pledge pressures farmers
Reuters — This month’s pledge by McDonald’s Corp. to phase out eggs laid by caged hens in its North American restaurants will increase competition for limited supplies of cage-free eggs. The ban, which follows similar moves by Burger King and food services company Sodexo, carries higher costs that may, at least initially, sting farmers. For […] Read more
U.S. may kill poultry with heat stress to stop bird flu
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. agriculture officials seeking ways to control deadly bird flu have approved the use of a method to kill poultry by turning up the heat in their barns and shutting off ventilation systems. The Agriculture Department will consider using the method, condemned by animal rights groups as cruel, if there are […] Read more
McDonald’s investor wants it to cut antibiotics in all meats
Los Angeles | Reuters –– A McDonald’s Corp. shareholder group is renewing its call for the fast-food chain to stop buying any meat from animals raised with antibiotics vital to fighting human infections. The move from the Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, comes amid growing concern from public health experts that the overuse […] Read more
Study alleges U.S. fast food still mostly raised on antibiotics
Los Angeles | Reuters –– Most large U.S. fast-food chains still serve meat from farm animals that have been routinely fed antibiotics, consumer groups said in a new report, which concluded that many companies have not yet laid out plans to curb the practice. Subway, Starbucks, KFC and Domino’s Pizza were among the industry leaders […] Read more
Yukon to help cover livestock vets’ travel costs
The Yukon government has launched a pilot program to help cover veterinarians’ travel and service expenses for farm calls. The territory government on Tuesday announced it will accept up to 30 farmers for the pilot of the Veterinary Services Program, running from now to the end of March 2016. The program will reimburse participating veterinarians […] Read more
Avian flu risk higher with fall migrations
Poultry farmers in Ontario are being warned to keep biosecurity top of mind as wild birds get ready to fly south this fall. “With the fall weather quickly approaching, resulting in colder temperatures and wild bird migrations, the threat of re-emergence of (highly pathogenic avian influenza) is real,” the Feather Board Command Centre, the emergency […] Read more
McDonald’s en route to ‘cage-free’ eggs in Canada, U.S.
Reuters/Staff –– McDonald’s Corp. said all eggs it uses in its 16,000 restaurants in Canada and the U.S. will, within the next 10 years, come from chickens not confined to cages. The decision to source “cage-free” eggs follows the company’s announcement in March that it would stop using chicken raised with certain kinds of antibiotics […] Read more
CFIA clears more states for cross-border poultry traffic
Travellers entering Canada from the U.S. may now bring in uncooked poultry products, live poultry and eggs from seven of the 15 states that have had outbreaks of avian flu since December. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Tuesday confirmed it now considers the states of Washington, Idaho, California and Oregon free of highly […] Read more
Canada lifts bans on three states’ poultry, eggs
Travellers entering Canada from the U.S. can now bring in uncooked poultry products and eggs from Indiana, Montana and/or Arkansas. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) during August declared each of those three states free of highly pathogenic (“high-path”) avian flu, following discoveries of infected poultry in those states this spring. Poultry from Indiana had […] Read more
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