Livestock

The organization representing fairs and exhibition organizers across Canada is raising concern about implemented and proposed Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulations. On March 18th, the CFIA opened a 90-day consultation until June 16th, about livestock traceability and identification. Some of the rules place the responsibility of identifying and tracing the livestock on event organizers. The […]

After a relatively quiet March with just one outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic poultry, Quebec has turned up 13 outbreaks so far this month. The Quebec government announced April 6th it will put up $800,000 for the province’s poultry disease control team to go toward producer training; updating biosecurity protocols; building up “field […]

The new leadership team for 2023 Canadian Western Agribition was selected at yesterday’s annual meeting in Regina. Kim Hextall from Grenfell goes into her second term as president. She joined the board in 2014. She and her husband raise purebred and commercial black angus cattle near Grenfell. Michael Latimer of Olds, Alberta was elected vice […]

M-Ps are defending Canada’s supply management system and say it could be a good option for lower-income countries to be less reliant on imports.  A House of Commons committee is meeting today to talk about a Bloc Québécois bill that would make it harder for new trade deals to chip away at the system. Since […]

Old Man Winter isn’t quite done with Saskatchewan just yet. Earlier today, Environment Canada issued a special weather statement that has since been changed to a winter storm watch, covering the south and southeast portions of the province. The federal weather agency says a Colorado Low is expected to drop 10 to 25 cm of […]

The United States is testing four bird flu vaccines for poultry, after more than 58 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have died in the nation’s worst outbreak ever. The trials, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, are the first step in a lengthy process toward the possible first use of vaccines to […]

Quebec pork producer Olymel says it will close a major slaughterhouse south of Quebec City and lay off 994 workers. The company says the Vallée-Jonction plant in the Beauce region will be the latest factory to shutter, after previously announcing the closure of several other facilities in recent months. Olymel CEO Yanick Gervais told reporters […]

An explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle that critically injured one person and killed an estimated 18,000 head of cattle is the deadliest barn fire recorded since the Animal Welfare Institute began tracking the fires. Castro County Sheriff Salvador Rivera has says the Monday fire and explosion at Southfork Dairy Farm near […]

Meatpackers and other companies in the food-supply chain need to do a better job taking steps to ensure illegal child labor isn’t being used in their operations, or by their suppliers, subcontractors or other vendors. That’s according to US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. In a letter to 18 of the country’s largest meat and poultry […]

Britain’s envoy to Canada says an uproar on the Prairies over an expanded trade deal could be overcome by ranchers rejigging their beef operations to meet U.K. standards. British High Commissioner to Canada Susannah Goshko says Brits don’t want their government to budge on barring imports of beef raised with certain hormones. But groups like […]