It was 2004, less than a year after BSE hit the Canadian cattle industry, when Canada’s first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) devastated poultry production in B.C. Without any playbook on how to manage the virus, a decision was made to cull all the birds on commercial farms in B.C.’s Fraser Valley. While… Read More
Category: Livestock
Olymel has announced the closure of its Vallée-Jonction, Quebec, plant, and will layoff about 1,000 people in the process. It’s expected to plant will take eight months to wind down, and staff will be offered positions at other Olymel plants. The hog slaughtering, cutting and deboning plant has wracked up nearly $400 million in losses… Read More
Even though many are looking at the futures market for ’23 new crop prices, and there’s a little more positivity across drought areas in terms of upcoming precipitation, “what’s going in the mouths of cattle today is still old crop.” So, as a result, we’re going to have to wait until the back half of… Read More
Update, as of April 17: The Public Service Alliance of Canada announced a strike deadline on Monday morning. The union says more than 155,000 PSAC members, which includes staff with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Grain Commission, will begin strike action on Wednesday, April 19 if a deal cannot be reached by 9… Read More
Dr. Tim Henshaw never missed an opportunity to promote the Canadian dairy industry and its contribution to this country and the world. A champion for agriculture, Henshaw, a 1979 Ontario Veterinary College graduate, spent over 40 years as a veterinarian on cattle reproductive health at United Breeders, then Gencor and finally EastGen. He examined more… Read More
Four generations of innovation keeps you on your toes: and that’s exactly what Andrea Stroeve-Sawa loves about Shipwheel Cattle Feeders. In our debut episode of Profitable Practices, we head over to Taber, Alta. to shine a light on innovation and management practices Stroeve-Sawa and her family employ at their 5,500 head feedlot. Sponsored by Farm… Read More
The Canadian Dairy XPO returned to a live trade show format this week for the first time since 2019. The dairy showcase celebrated the return by playing host to the third edition of the Calves For A Cause auction to benefit London Children’s Health Foundation. CDX founder Jordon Underwood notes that the Calves For A… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says a domestic dog in Oshawa, Ont., died last week after contracting highly pathogenic avian influenza. The actual cause of death has not been confirmed, but the dog had scavenged a dead wild goose several days prior to its passing. Samples subsequently taken from the dog tested positive for… Read More
After undergoing some major changes through the ’80s and ’90s, business risk management (BRM) programs for farmers across Canada have remained largely the same for the last two decades. While there have been a few tweaks to AgriStability and its siblings in the BRM family of programs, AgriInsurance, and AgriInvest, the risks that farmers and… Read More
The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) is disappointed the Government of Canada has accepted restrictions on access to products in the Comprehensive and Progressive agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) put forward by the United Kingdom as part of the terms for it to join the deal. Rene Roy, pork producer from Quebec and chair of the… Read More
Despite there being a lot more hope for rain in the 2023 growing season, the drought that has struck a good portion of North America for the past few years is still very fresh in many farmers’ minds. With that, many farmers are wondering what options are out there to add to the rotation that… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is continuing with its updating of the Health of Animals Regulations regarding livestock transport and traceability. This latest round of proposed changes builds on the 2020 changes that introduced new feed, water, rest, and transport manifest requirements, among other changes. There are four main goals of Part XV changes: to… Read More
Misinformation is nothing new. Humans have been stretching the truth since the beginning of time, but the growing amount of misinformation generated today and the speed at which it moves is one of the defining issues of our time, says academic and author Dr. Timothy Caulfield. As a member of the University of Alberta’s Faculty… Read More
The story for the last couple of weeks in the cattle markets has been the cash market, and how it is responding on both sides of the border. In both the U.S. and Canada, the cash market has been extremely positive, says Anne Wasko of the Gateway Livestock Exchange. In this week’s episode of the… Read More
The United Kingdom has reached an agreement to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, better known as the CPTPP. It’s the first time a new member has joined the CPTPP since the original 11 Pacific Rim countries, including Canada, reached the deal in 2018. From an agricultural perspective, the Canadian Cattle Association… Read More