Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta’s goat sector is small but its members are doing what they can to support each other during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Alberta Goat Association has been reaching out to its members to let them know that we’re here and if they have any questions we are here to support them with anything that they […] Read more
Alberta’s goat community is taking care of each other
It’s a small but diverse group but having someone to talk to is key, says goat association vice president
Alberta’s provincial meat inspectors to train for federal duty
Provincial inspectors to be seconded to CFIA-inspected packers
Provincial meat inspectors in Alberta could soon be seconded to federally inspected packing plants under a new work-sharing arrangement between the province and Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The federal and Alberta governments announced Wednesday they would partner to “increase food inspector capacity” in the province and thus “ensure the continuous operation of Alberta’s food supply […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Pandemic drives Chicago prices lower
MarketsFarm — The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to pressure U.S. markets, including the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), according to Scott Capinegro, president of Barrington Commodities at Barrington, Ill. “It’s like that movie Groundhog Day. You wake up and it’s the same thing every day,” Capinegro said. There’s a domino effect in the grain industry […] Read more
Livestock or pets not considered a risk for COVID-19
Reading Time: < 1 minute There is currently no evidence that animals become sick with COVID-19 or spread the infection. Imports and exports of plants and animals to and from Canada are not currently affected. However, the CFIA will take any necessary action to protect the safety of Canada’s plants and animals. (Updates will be posted at inspection.gc.ca) There have […] Read more
Thrust into the spotlight, the farm sector shines during pandemic
Food supply chain does something extraordinary in unprecedented crisis — keeps things running ‘mostly normally’
Reading Time: 4 minutes Never in our lifetimes has the ordinary been so extraordinary. Take, for example, the simple act of delivering a load of grain. The whole business of receiving, grading, and getting the paperwork to the farmer or truck driver is hands-on work, usually done in close quarters. So you not only have to be fastidious about […] Read more
Add COVID-19 to your safety plan for spring seeding
More cleaning and less sharing of equipment are sensible moves these days
Reading Time: 2 minutes Plan how to stay safe while seeding during COVID-19. Start, of course, by minimizing contact, said Jody Wacowich, executive director of AgSafe Alberta. “If you have a large group, maybe have them come at different points during the morning, so they’re not all together,” she said. But having safety conversations, in one form or another, […] Read more
COVID-19 strains already-battered Ontario beef industry
Limited processing capacity remains financial challenge for province's feedlot sector, despite recent increase in retail demand
Ontario’s beef industry was already in the midst of an economic crisis, but COVID-19 is worsening the financial toll on the province’s cattle feeders. Due to extremely limited processing plant capacity, an uncompetitive market and disruptions to trade and market access, Ontario’s beef industry was losing an average of more than $2 million per week […] Read more
Sick employee disrupts slaughter at Harmony Beef
Part of Calgary beef plant shut down after employee who had been off work tested positive for COVID-19
Reading Time: < 1 minute Harmony Beef, a beef processing plant north of Calgary, had to shut part of its operation down March 26 after an employee fell sick. “Alberta Health Services informed us Thursday that an employee who had not been at work for days had a positive test for COVID-19,” company spokesperson Crosbie Cotton said March 27. The […] Read more
Ottawa expected to ‘officially’ declare ag an essential service
The Western Grain Elevator Association says that designation will clarify things and help to keep grain moving
Canada’s grain industry expects the federal government will soon officially declare agriculture an essential service. Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), says that designation will have a practical application. “Hopefully it ends all confusion about grain workers at elevators, railway workers and anybody else required for moving grain, as to […] Read more
COVID-19 cases shut Olymel hog slaughter plant
Facility in Quebec's Mauricie region to close for two weeks
The COVID-19 coronavirus has made its way into the labour pool at a major pork packing plant in Quebec’s Mauricie region, forcing a two-week shutdown. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec-based Sollio Co-operative Group, announced Sunday it will temporarily close its hog slaughter and cutting plant at Yamachiche, about 20 km west of Trois-Rivieres, […] Read more
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