Cargill says it is resuming beef processing operations, with support from Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Occupational, Health and Safety (OHS), at High River on Monday morning (May 4). The company says it will be running two harvesting shifts, with fabrication resuming on May 6. The union representing 2,000 employees at the plant has taken… Read More
Category: COVID-19
First quarter financial reports are starting to paint a clearer picture of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent government restrictions, have had on food demand. Restaurant sales — no surprise — have plummeted, and been replaced to a lesser extent by higher staple grocery sales. Tim Hortons, A&W, and McDonalds have all reported… Read More
Update, as of 2pm MDT May 3: A Cargill spokesperson says the company has nothing new to report regarding plans to operate one shift beginning May 4. The union that represents approximately 2,000 workers at Cargill’s beef processing plant at High River, Alberta, has filed legal action in an attempt to block the reopening of… Read More
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become abundantly clear to many that Canada’s livestock processing industry is incredibly concentrated to a handful of federal plants. Now, as these plants face partial or short-term closures, many farmers and consumers alike are lamenting the lack of small, local abattoirs. The trouble is, it’s not easy… Read More
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) has put a number on the emergency fund it wants the federal government to provide for the agriculture and food industry: $2.6 billion. CFA says this amount is based on estimates of the immediate impacts of COVID-19 provided by agricultural commodity groups across the country. The emergency fund is… Read More
After a 14-day idle, Cargill’s beef processing plant at High River, Alta., will reopen with one shift, starting May 4. Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Occupational, Health and Safety (OHS), announced the plans on April 29th. All employees who are eligible to return to work in the harvest department are being asked to report to… Read More
We’ve talked about flattening the COVID-19 infection curve and a flattened recovery curve, and now we’re talking about flattening the worry curve. David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, a polling and market research firm, says that his company has been tracking how Canadians feel about COVID-19, how stressed they are about it, how long isolation… Read More
Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) will make an additional donation of $100,000 and up to 200,000 litres of incremental milk, the producer group has announced. This is in addition to the over 1 million litres donated to food banks annually in partnership with the Ontario Dairy Council (ODC) and the Ontario Milk Transport Association (OMTA)… Read More
As we enter the second month of physical distancing and economic shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, discussions have begun on easing restrictions and potentially allowing some people to get back to work. But we don’t know how long that might take, or when it will happen, or what the economic recovery will look like… Read More
I’ve been thinking a lot lately, as I’m sure you all have been. We’re in a quarantine that doesn’t have a definite end. And if you’re an over-thinker like me, join the club — you’re not alone. There’s a lot of great advice out there. You could dig for eons on Google reading articles about… Read More
What happens if you, someone else on the farm, or one of your employees gets sick or must self-isolate during the spring planting or calving season? It’s a scenario every farm should prepare for in the midst of the current pandemic, says Jennifer Wright. A cough or a runny nose is usually not an excuse… Read More
Beef Farmers of Ontario, Grain Farmers of Ontario, Veal Farmers of Ontario, and the Ontario Sheep Farmers are collectively asking Ontario’s Premier and the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to immediately move to fully fund the Ontario Risk Management Program (RMP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Representing over 50,000 Ontario farmers, the groups say… Read More
The governments of Canada and Manitoba will be providing a total of $160,000 through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to Direct Farm Manitoba to purchase a software platform that will allow Manitobans to order food online from local producers and farmers’ markets, the province says. The funding will also go toward the development of a network… Read More
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) and the Canada’s Farm Show advisory board have made the decision to postpone this year’s show. “This is an unprecedented time for our city, province, country, the world,” says Tim Reid, president and CEO of REAL. “We are about 50 days away from… Read More
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association has been lobbying the federal government very hard on a version of the past BSE-era set aside program. The proposal does not have all producers in the feedyard and ranching community onside with the idea, and one of the groups that has spoken out against the set aside proposal is the… Read More