Reading Time: 4 minutes The changes just keep on coming as the organization representing Alberta’s pork producers marks its 50th birthday. The industry has been transformed again and again since Alberta Pork was formed in 1969, said executive director Darcy Fitzgerald. The top one is the number of producers. “We used to have a lot of farms with few […] Read more
Alberta Pork celebrates 50 years — and looks back at many, many changes
It’s almost easier to ask what hasn’t changed in the pork sector in the last half-century
African swine fever: It’s not the ‘lazy’ virus — it’s unthinking people
African swine fever is spreading like wildfire in Asia, but it’s because people are bringing contaminated pork home
Reading Time: 6 minutes African swine fever continues to cut a devastating swath across Asia as North American pork industry officials work to keep the deadly disease off our shores. “The African swine fever virus is spreading very quickly throughout the Southeast Asia region,” Dr. Egan Brockhoff, veterinary counsellor for the Canadian Pork Council said in a Sept. 20 […] Read more
Livestock sector suspicious of China ban but hopeful
Politics, not fraud, may be behind latest Chinese ban of our exports but officials hopeful it can be resolved
Reading Time: 4 minutes Some sort of fraud or more payback from China? That’s the question facing Canadian pork and beef producers after Beijing banned their products last month. As was the case with canola seed, the official Chinese explanation is that it halted imports because of contamination issues — “pests” in canola and the growth promotant ractopamine in […] Read more
China can’t ban hope — pork sector is eyeing a great year
The supply-and-demand calculus is clear: Demand is high, supply is low, and those selling pork will find buyers
Reading Time: 3 minutes International pork markets are in disarray, but the prospects are good for pork producers here — even after Beijing’s new ban on Canadian pork exports. China had been a hot market for Canadian pork this year, with its purchases jumping by more than half in the first four months and moving the nation ahead of […] Read more
Millennial couple takes outdoor hog farming to the next level
Reading Time: 5 minutes When Chris Fasoli exited his office job in 2015, he knew he wanted to do something different. After some soul-searching, he and wife Jessica decided they wanted to farm. The Fasoli family operation, run by Chris’s brother, had some grazing land available after selling off its cattle a couple of years earlier. But the couple […] Read more
African swine fever would be a disaster
There is a ‘clear risk’ the swiftly spreading disease could come here, says leading swine health vet
Reading Time: 4 minutes There is a real risk that the African swine fever virus could enter Canada — and if it did, it would be catastrophic, says one of the country’s leading swine health experts. “If Canada got a single case in our country, our borders would close to all nations,” said Dr. Egan Brockhoff, a partner in […] Read more
Pork producers slammed by tariff war call for government aid
The bottom fell out of the pork market this summer and Alberta producers are suffering huge losses
Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian pork producers need “immediate help” from government to deal with a price plunge sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff wars with China and Mexico. “What we’re seeing right now is really bad,” said Darcy Fitzgerald, executive director of Alberta Pork. “And a lot of it has to do with what’s going on with […] Read more
Trans-Pacific agreement draws praise from ag groups
Farm and agri-food groups say deal will open new markets but CFA issues warning on supply management
Reading Time: 2 minutes Here’s what farm and agri-food groups were saying after an agreement was struck on a new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (also called TPP-11 or CPTPP): Cereals Canada The TPP-11 agreement raises the bar with respect to modern and progressive trading rules in Asia-Pacific and beyond. Canada’s participation demonstrates much needed […] Read more
Three other takes on the Trans-Pacific trade talks
Pork, dairy, and grain producer groups also have strong views on what needs to happen in negotiations
Reading Time: < 1 minute Here’s what other Canadian commodity groups are saying about the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks. “Last year, 1.1 million tonnes of pork and pork products, valued at over $3.7 billion, were exported to 92 different countries. Of this, approximately 80 per cent was sold to current TPP partners while another 15 per cent goes to countries we […] Read more
New Alberta rep on Canadian Pork Council
Reading Time: < 1 minute Dan Majeau is the new Alberta rep on the Canadian Pork Council, a federation of nine provincial pork industry associations representing 7,000 farms. Among the council’s priority issues are pushing Ottawa to take a leadership role in completing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. The organization has also been working the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to resolve issues […] Read more
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