Milk, in North America at least, is very much a commodity. There is little distinction between brands or types — a 4 litre jug is a 4 litre jug and not many have a preference as to what label it carries. This is changing, however, as family size shrinks and food trends increase the push… Read More
If you judge a politician’s strategy by where they choose their photo ops, Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne has her sights firmly set on rural Ontario. Typically the domain of the Progressive Conservatives, Wynne appointing herself ag minister after winning the premiership was a very strategic move in winning the hearts and votes of rural Ontario…. Read More
Understanding and managing antimicrobial resistance is important for livestock production and to ensure the continued effectiveness of veterinary products. It’s also a complex issue under intense public scrutiny two factors that, under the wrong conditions, don’t go well together. The Ontario Medical Association recently began pushing for governments to step up its involvement in the… Read More
It was high noon in steamy Windsor, Ont., when the Ontario Corn-Fed Beef Program was launched at a lunchtime steak BBQ back in the summer of 2001. Given the heat, you could have grilled the corn-fed beef directly on the strip mall parking lot where the sweltering event was staged, and skipped the middleman –… 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
A WTO ruling from late in 2011 sided with Canada, among other countries, that U.S. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulation was “inconsistent with its WTO trade obligations.” But instead of amending the labeling requirements in time for the late may deadline, the US has seemingly upped the ante, and will now being to add… Read More
Take it for what it’s worth (a relatively arbitrary list from The Daily Meal), but a recent who’s who of food puts farmers at the bottom of the list when it comes to who influences how and what we eat. The Daily Meal launched its “50 Most Powerful People in Food” list recently, ranking individuals… Read More
Almost 10 years ago, Canada got its global butt kicked when news broke about a lone case of BSE in Alberta. Naysayers everywhere – competitors and anti-corporate activists, among them — were lurking in the weeds, waiting for an opportunity to discredit our food system. The agriculture minister at the time, Lyle Vanclief, tried hard… Read More
Once again Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz took to the stage at the FarmTech conference to talk to a packed house about the state of agriculture in Canada. This year saw the Minister announce details on two federal Growing Forward 2 programs as well as address a number of other topics including the lay of… Read More
BASF Canada today launched an online video series called “Conversations on Sustainability.” The videos feature conversations between five consumers paired with five farmers from both the Prairies and Ontario, and highlight some of the common questions and curiosities consumers have about modern agriculture in Canada. The series tackles questions about organic and conventional production, and… Read More
JBS USA, a subsidiary of Brazil-based JBS S.A., has announced it is moving forward with purchasing XL Foods’s Canadian operations. JBS took over management of the Brooks-based plant in late October after E. coli contamination shut down operations at the plant. JBS, upon exercising this option, anticipates the purchase of XL Foods to be completed… Read More
Canada’s Competition Bureau has approved the sale of Puratone Corporation to Maple Leaf Foods and Big Sky Farms to Olymel in a major step towards consolidation of Canada’s and especially Western Canada’s hog industry. The bureau said in a statement: “the Bureau concluded that the mergers were unlikely to lead to a substantial lessening or… Read More
There’s no doubt that there are significant rules and regulations in place that farmers must follow in order to certify their production as organic. Canada has a rigourous organic standard, and organic farmers typically take several years to fully transition to the production system. In turn, Canadian consumers have more organic choices in supermarkets than… Read More
For those who didn’t tune in this weekend to an episode of CTV’s W5 on “factory farming”, let me sum it up for you: according to the episode hog farmers are heartless, sadist wretches that abuse and mistreat all their animals. While attacks and misinformation on and about farming practices aren’t rare, this particular program… Read More
The Province of Saskatchewan, the University of Saskatchewan and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PotashCorp) have launched the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) to develop Saskatchewan-led solutions to feed a growing world population. With initial commitments of up to $35 million from PotashCorp and $15 million from the province over the next seven years,… Read More