Although the majority of recent NAFTA 2.0 talks have been focused on Canada’s dairy farmers, the pork industry is feeling the pinch when it comes to prices. As the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) points out in a recent news release, pigs are being sold at prices 30 per cent lower than this time last year,… Read More
Canada’s largest hog production company, with support from the Government of Manitoba, has announced a major new build in western Manitoba. HyLife Food Ltd. announced today a brand new feed mill will be built in the R.M. of Killarney-Turtle Mountain with the help of tax increment financing (TIF), to the tune of $9.5 million over a… Read More
July was a strong month in the beef market both for the U.S. and Canada according to Anne Wasko, market analyst with Gateway Livestock Exchange. “On the U.S. front, strong pork and beef exports continue to be the story,” she says adding that in July alone, beef exports from the U.S. to the rest of the… Read More
Quebec-based agri-food cooperative La Coop fédérée is buying into Ontario’s animal feed industry. La Coop has announced a deal to purchase a 50 percent stake in W-S Feed & Supplies Limited, an animal nutrition company that operates feed mills in Tavistock and Mount Forest, Ontario. “This investment represents a strategic entry into the Ontario market, in… Read More
The trucking industry has been concerned about the increasing number of regulations that prevent haulers from keeping clients happy and being profitable in the long-term. Livestock haulers specifically have taken issue with the implementation of the electronic logging device (ELD) rule that took effect earlier this year. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier… Read More
You might be forgiven for thinking that every fall is the same when it comes to cattle leaving the summer range and heading off to the auction ring. Every fall is different and every fall farmers study the markets to see how they can best react to what they see coming up. Anne Wasko, market… Read More
Cattle traceability platform BIXS is getting a rebrand ahead of its parent Business Information Exchange Systems (BIXS) moving forward on plans to go public in late 2018. BIXSco Inc. announced this month that the company has rebranded as BIX Systems, comprised of Viewtrak Technologies and BIXSco Inc., as they work on first round fund-raising with… Read More
A U.S. lobby group that is closely aligned with the Trump administration on trade policy is trying to bring mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) back into the spotlight through the NAFTA negotiations. The Coalition for a Prosperous America, whose board includes R-CALF USA director Bill Bullard, sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on… Read More
What we know A tweet posted July 26th by Dr. Egan Brockhoff, DVM, stated that two environmental samples (not livestock) in Saskatchewan had tested positive for PEDv. Heads up! PED Virus +ve environmental samples. Saskatchewan has found a #livestock trailer and #truckwash positive for the virus. Direct connection to US transportation identified as the… Read More
Dutch swine genetics company Topigs Norsvin officially opened a $15 million hog research centre in Manitoba on Wednesday. The company’s Delta Canada facility is located near Woodlands, in Manitoba’s Interlake region, which was chosen due to its isolation from other pig production and its proximity to Winnipeg’s Richardson International Airport for shipping breeding stock and… Read More
What’s new? Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay set off on a cross-Canada trek this week, and will be making a series of stops — and expected funding announcements — along the way. The announced funds are part of the overall funding previously committed to the five-year federal-provincial Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP). We’re… Read More
A group of people concerned about the impact of Health Canada’s plan to revise Canada’s Food Guide and introduce new labels on food packaging have launched a campaign to raise awareness of and opposition to the government’s proposed changes. The campaign, which uses the slogan “Hands Off My Plate,” includes a website, a hashtag (#HandsOffMyPlate,… Read More
Quebec-based cooperative La Coop fédérée is expandings its presence in Western Canada, announcing the acquisition of Standard Nutrition Canada. Headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Standard Nutrition Canada sells animal nutrition products and services in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Formed in 2004 after the amalgamation of Standard Nutrition USA’s Canadian operations and Max Pro Feeds of Winnipeg,… Read More
HyLife Foods celebrated the expansion of its hog processing plant in Neepawa, MB, this week — an expansion that has been driven by growing demand for Canadian pork in Japan and China. The La Broquerie-based company has added 100,000 square feet to the facility, including new cutting floor space, a shipping/packaging area, and more cooling… Read More
Livestock trucks headed south will be exempt from new electronic logging rules in the U.S. for another 90-days, as the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) wrestles with how to apply the new legislation to perishable commodities, which include hogs and cattle coming from Canada. The U.S. DOT initially granted a 90-day waiver for agriculture when… Read More