Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s full speed ahead for McDonald’s “verified sustainable beef” project. The country’s largest buyer of beef is finishing up the first phase of its groundbreaking pilot project in Canada, and earlier this month the head of the global fast-food giant paid a visit to Alberta to get a first-hand look. Recently appointed CEO Steve Easterbrook […] Read more
McDonald’s ‘sustainable beef’ pilot project ramps up
Alberta visit of McDonald's global CEO signals a sea change in the beef industry
Livestock facility audits praised by experts
Temple Grandin and Jennifer Woods say they boost both profits and PR
Reading Time: 4 minutes Temple Grandin and Jennifer Woods are both fans of the old saying: ‘You cannot manage what you cannot measure.’ Which is why the two animal welfare experts are in favour of audits. The duo, who has known each other for more than two decades, both spoke at the recent Canadian Livestock Transport conference. “Many people […] Read more
Ont. co-op swaps corn supply line for ethanol plant
Corrected, April 30, 2015 — Farmer co-operative IGPC plans to switch to Thompsons from Cargill as the main corn supplier for its southwestern Ontario ethanol processing plant, starting this fall. Thompsons Ltd. will start buying corn immediately for deliveries from Oct. 1 onward to the Aylmer, Ont. ethanol plant, IGPC (Integrated Grain Processors Co-operative) said in a […] Read more
New Alta. canola crush capacity online soon
CNS Canada –– A new crushing plant Cargill is building at Camrose, Alta. will soon provide another outlet for Prairie canola, as the company is set to take delivery from farmers starting Tuesday. The facility, first announced in 2012, will be able to crush 2,500 tonnes of canola per day when operating at capacity. The […] Read more
Guenther: McDonald’s sustainability goals to reach beyond beef
Farmers who want to keep supplying the world’s biggest quick-service restaurant chains can expect more scrutiny of their methods going forward. That’s because the chains’ customers appear to be looking for more sustainably-produced food — so companies such as McDonald’s in turn are looking for third-party verification to prove the ingredients they source make the […] Read more
Devilish dollar: What’s good for producers may mean more pain for packers
Cargill and JBS plants in Alberta need more cattle, but a low dollar makes it harder to get them and also has some negatives for feedlots
Reading Time: 4 minutes A low dollar means double trouble for Alberta’s big packers — and puts stress on feedlots, too. “In 2015, with smaller cattle numbers and bigger exports, we’re going to see some pressure on our packing plants and feedlots to stay better utilized,” said Brian Perillat, senior analyst and manager with CanFax. Despite its shrinking herd, […] Read more
Cargill begins selling GM corn seed at centre of lawsuits
Reuters — Cargill has started selling a variety of genetically modified Syngenta corn seed that previously disrupted U.S. grain trading, now that China has approved imports of the biotech crop. Cargill, one of the top U.S. grain exporters, began selling seed containing the Agrisure Viptera trait last month and scrapped a policy that required farmers […] Read more
Cargill likely to stay private, CEO says
Miami | Reuters — Cargill, one of the world’s largest privately held corporations and a top commodities trader, will likely remain private for at least another decade, its CEO said on Tuesday as he assessed challenges facing the 150-year old company. David MacLennan, who has led Cargill for the past 13 months, also revealed that […] Read more
Big Data is coming to the cattle business — and that’s a good thing
Reading Time: 2 minutes The future is about collecting and mining data. And beef producers who don’t get on board run the risk of being left behind, says an industry expert. “Information and data gathering will become increasingly important,” said Thomas Lynch-Staunton, Livestock Gentec’s director of industry relations. Lynch-Staunton is involved with what’s called a “life cycle analysis” — […] Read more
Cargill to shutter U.S. turkey plant
Reuters — Agricultural conglomerate Cargill said Friday it will shutter its turkey and cooked meats processing plant in Springfield, Mo., and move the operations to Nebraska City, Nebraska, and Waco, Texas. Cargill said it will close its Springfield plant, which employs 118 people, on March 11. The decision came about after Cargill assessed its turkey […] Read more
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