Reading Time: 6 minutes Like the BSE crisis of 17 years ago, COVID-19 came without warning and pulled the ground out from underneath cattle producers almost overnight. Those who lived through those days say lessons learned from that time apply today, but there are also some important distinctions between that crisis and the pandemic. Arno Doerksen was chair of […] Read more
What was learned from BSE and what we’re learning now
Veteran producers and younger ones offer their thoughts and insights during this stressful time
Olymel pork plant workers take slaughter into OT
Over 800 volunteered for added shifts with charitable twist, packer says
Workers at three Olymel hog slaughter plants in Quebec volunteered for overtime shifts over the weekend to help clear the province’s backlog of market-weight hogs, the company said Saturday. Sollio’s meat packing arm said over 800 workers at its slaughter plants at Yamachiche and St-Esprit and the former F. Menard plant it now owns at […] Read more
Sollio outlines pandemic recovery plan for food sector
Support sought for automation, digitization, telecommunications
Ottawa — One of Canada’s largest agri-food companies has laid out a five-point industry recovery plan for federal politicians to consider. During a meeting Tuesday of the Commons standing committee on finance, the president of Quebec-based Sollio Co-operative Group shared plans to limit consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agrifood supply chain. Sollio employs […] Read more
Two national campaigns launched for food supply chains
It's good, one campaign says, but could the sector have done better, another asks
Ottawa — The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity is launching a new campaign to inform consumers on how the food system works. “It’s Good, Canada” will share personal stories of Canadians working across the food supply chain and provide information about farming, transportation, processing, retail and production on its website. “It’s natural for Canadians to […] Read more
Federal ag supports ‘too little, too late’ for mushroom growers
Timing of programs for TFWs, surplus food purchases leaves aid out of reach: CMGA
Ottawa — Members of Parliament sitting on the committee dealing with agricultural issues continue to hear concerns over the federal government’s response to COVID-19. During the Commons standing committee on agriculture and agri-food’s online meeting Wednesday, representatives of the Canadian Mushrooms Growers’ Association raised “grave concerns” over the support CMGA members have received. CEO Ryan […] Read more
Tyson to shut Iowa pork plant against COVID-19 outbreak
Plant handles up to 3.5 per cent of U.S. pork output
Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods said on Thursday it will temporarily close an Iowa pork plant due to the coronavirus pandemic, a month after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered slaughterhouses to stay open to protect the country’s food supply. Meat processors such as Tyson, WH Group’s Smithfield Foods and JBS USA temporarily closed about […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lean hogs lower on China tensions
CME live cattle futures mostly higher
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures dropped by as much as the daily trading limit on Thursday on worries that rising tensions between Washington and Beijing could limit U.S. pork purchases by China, the world’s largest pork consumer. Sino-U.S. relations have worsened as the White House has threatened China with sanctions over its […] Read more
Farm workers cram daily into U.S.-Mexico border tunnel
Labourers line up hundreds deep for hours despite contagion risk
Mexicali | Reuters — Every night, hundreds of farm workers in Mexico crowd for hours in a cramped tunnel to a border station to reach day jobs in Imperial Valley, California, with no social distancing enforced despite coronavirus cases saturating hospitals in the region. By 2 a.m. on Tuesday, tense men and women with cloth […] Read more
Huawei extradition ruling could unleash more Chinese backlash
More punitive trade measures expected
Ottawa | Reuters — A British Columbia court ruling that could permit the extradition of a senior Huawei executive to the U.S. leaves Canada vulnerable to further retaliation from Beijing, analysts said. Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on Wednesday lost a challenge to a U.S. bid to extradite her to face bank fraud charges, […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Extradition ruling not the only anchor on canola
MarketsFarm — Although ICE July canola finished $1.30 per tonne lower Wednesday, at $463.50, following a ruling on the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, Wayne Palmer said there’s much more to the decline in the price. While Palmer, a trader with Exceed Grain in Winnipeg, called the ruling “a nail in canola’s coffin,” he […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
