A shift in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s focus means that ranchers transporting cattle to auction, pasture or the abattoir may face increased scrutiny on the condition of the cattle they’re moving. All existing regulations have remained the same, however, ranchers should expect to see CFIA inspectors actively checking on and ticketing animals under transport…. Read More
Category: Regulatory
Modernizing Canada’s varietal registration system needed to happen — the removal of kernel visual distinguishability and the CWB’s monopoly in recent years has changed crop variety development in Canada. The registration system needs to evolve with it in order to stay current and competitive. Read More: Upov 91, Gerry Rits and Canada’s variety registration system… Read More
After watching the throne speech yesterday I quickly remembered back to a conversation that I had with Gerry Ritz back in January at Farmtech regarding Canada implementing UPOV 91. (Canada’s plant breeder’s rights system is currently based on the 1978 convention). On several occasions Minister Ritz was very confident Canada would conform to the UPOV… Read More
In 1998, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association brought forward a petition to Health Canada to amend regulations so that irradiation of ground beef could be used in Canada. The scientific review proving the safety and efficacy of the bacteria-killing process was completed by Health Canada. The petition moved to step one of a two step process… Read More
The discussion around proposed changes to the check-off funded associations in Western Canada is growing significantly. No, not everyone is on-side with the idea — many grower group members feel they best serve the commodity’s interest individually, and are opposed to joining ranks across provinces and especially not nationally. Danny Penner is one of those,… Read More
With the public eye increasingly fixed on agriculture, twitchy farm policy makers may be inclined to act first and ask questions later. And that has farmers worried. For example, last spring in Ontario, more than 200 bee kill incidents were reported. No question about it, that’s a problem. Thousands of hives were affected. What’s the… Read More
It’s the beef recall nightmare that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. The XL Foods voluntary re-call regarding possible E. coli-contaminated ground beef began last week; the list of possibly contaminated products has been expanded seven times. To date, there have been no confirmed cases of human E. coli infections linked to this… Read More
NAFTA has been very valuable for agriculture in Canada and the US. An agreement signed by Prime Minister Harper and President Obama looked to further reduce trade barriers. This agreement specifically addresses the crop protection industry and will streamline the product-approval process. As a result, I’m confident we’ll see significant benefits for Canadian farmers. How… Read More