Beef market development projects recommended by British Columbia's recent Ranching Task Force will get up to $3 million in federal support on top of $2 million the province pledged earlier this year.

Read More...

To city dwellers, towering feed silos are as much a part of farm imagery as Old MacDonald. But to farmers, those towers are often called something else. Tombstones.

Read More...

A Chilliwack-area farmer is now plowing down seven acres of what's become the largest opium poppy bust ever in Canada. Chilliwack RCMP's drug section on Monday showed up at a rural property in the area with a search warrant to find a field with about seven acres of opium poppies in "various stages of growth."

Read More...

The market for cash canola has gotten weaker over the last few weeks, just as producers begin harvesting the oilseed. Jerry Klassen, manager of GAP Grains in Winnipeg, said there have been steady deliveries from farmers over the last couple of weeks.

Read More...

Pork production is down, exports are up and pork supplies are tight. There were only 391 million pounds of pork in U.S. cold storage on July 31. That was 27.5% less than a year earlier and the lowest of any month since October 2001.

Read More...

A two-month study of how an infamous bacterium fared in a group of Ontario piglets may lead to a rethinking of future studies on the bacteria's behaviour in pigs.

Read More...

Cargill Limited announced it will be closing its Toronto, Ontario case ready facility in the spring of 2011. The decision impacts 600 unionised employees and 90 management positions.

Read More...

After extensive beta-testing by computer-savvy ranchers this summer, the online record-keeping system called the BIXS, or Beef InfoXchange System, will be ready for launch for the cow-calf sector by September of this year, says Larry Thomas, national co-ordinator for the CCA's Canadian Beef Advantage program.

Read More...

"A recently completed study by Interpoc Inc. clearly demonstrates there is a growing market for specialised beef products in Manitoba, Canada and internationally, driven by people who follow Jewish and Muslim religious food practices," said Mr Struthers.

Read More...

In order to combat these new economic realities Alberta Pork will close its Consumer Services Division located in Calgary on 31 August 2010. For more than twenty years Alberta Pork has provided high quality food service and retail pork product information through numerous pork promotion and marketing campaigns. "The Consumer Services staff has serviced Alberta’s pork industry and the producers with a great deal of professionalism and their contributions will be missed," says Darcy Fitzgerald, Executive Director of Alberta Pork. "It is unfortunate that this action must be taken; however, change is required due to the new realities that we face in the hog industry."

Read More...

The New Brunswick government plans to pump up four Agricultural Development Board (ADB) programs for new and/or established farmers with more favourable terms and, in some cases, access to more financing.

Read More...

The Canadian Wheat Board has issued a special feed barley market update alerting farmers to the recent strength in export prices. The CWB said that for the past two years, barley from Black Sea exporters have dominated world feed markets, but an export ban from Russia and one expected from Ukraine have driven prices sharply higher.

Read More...

Air quality issues, if any, stemming from McCain Foods making french fries and pizza pockets in western New Brunswick are up for public airing. The province on Tuesday announced the launch of a required 180-day public participation process before renewing the air quality operating approval for McCain's frozen foods plant at Florenceville, about 110 km northwest of Fredericton.

Read More...

The Government of Canada is helping the cattle industry stay ahead of the curve in the global marketplace. It has announced an investment of up to $3 million to support the beef industry by developing new marketing opportunities to help farmers and food processors boost their bottom line.

Read More...

On July 28, 2010, in Lethbridge Provincial Court, Andrew McMillan pleaded guilty to one count of violating section 62(1) of the Meat Inspection Regulations, thereby committing an offence under Section 21(3) of the Meat Inspection Act.

Read More...

Faced with declining checkoff dollars to fund them, the Canadian Cattlemen's Association is looking to merge two of its marketing arms, according to Thursday's Manitoba Co-operator.

Read More...

PotashCorp of Saskatchewan (POT) Chief Executive Officer William J. Doyle says he has tasted what's driving global demand for fertilizer on the Chinese mainland. "When I first went to China in 1979, we were eating monkey brains, crickets, and sea urchins," Doyle, 60, said in an interview. "Today you go to China and they ask you if you want to split a beef tenderloin."

Read More...

New farmers in Nova Scotia now have a resource to help them start their business. Agriculture Minister John MacDonell launched the new Thinkfarm initiative on Aug. 25, which provides information on available programs and services. "We have been getting frequent requests for information and support from new entrants in the agriculture sector, so we focused on providing resources to meet their needs," said Mr. MacDonell.

Read More...

New farmers in Nova Scotia now have a resource to help them start their business. Agriculture Minister John MacDonell launched the new Thinkfarm initiative on Aug. 25, which provides information on available programs and services.

Read More...

Agrium says that its proposed purchase of Australian grain handler and agri-retailer AWB Ltd. would be "significantly accretive" to earnings in the first year, and that it could generate A$40 million in synergies annually.

Read More...

Feeder cattle prices in Alberta and Saskatchewan were steady to $1 higher last week; U.S. values were $1 to $3 higher for yearlings while lighter calves traded $2 higher to $2 lower. Most of the auction market activity occurred before the surge in U.S. fed cattle prices.

Read More...

Canada’s hog inventories continue to decline, the latest data show, suggesting North American supplies have yet to find a bottom. USDA’s quarterly U.S. and Canadian Hogs and Pigs report, which contained new data for the Canadian herd, showed the second-fewest number of hogs kept for breeding in Canada in at least a decade, according to a J.P. Morgan analysis.

Read More...

Feeder cattle prices in Alberta and Saskatchewan were steady to $1 higher last week; U.S. values were $1 to $3 higher for yearlings while lighter calves traded $2 higher to $2 lower.

Read More...

Quebec Minister of Agriculture Claude Bechard has announced the establishment of five working groups to increase the presence of local foods on Quebec grocery shelves.

Read More...

Farm trade ambitious Canada is resuming cattle exports to Colombia with a shipment of 60 Canadian heifers, ending seven years of trade restrictions, Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said at the weekend.

Read More...

All cattle and calves in the US and Canada combined totaled 114.8 million head on July 1, 2010, down two per cent from a year ago. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 46.1 million head, were down two per cent from a year ago.

Read More...

Canadian livestock could soon have access to a healthier alternative for antibiotics through animal feed supplements, thanks to an investment made in an Alberta business by the Government of Canada. The announcement was made by Tony Clement, Minister of Industry.

Read More...

The Canadian cattle herd was pegged at 14 million head as of July 1, a 4.9% decline from the same point the previous year, according to data released by Statistics Canada Thursday.

Read More...

The goat industry is pretty great – but a little help from improved genetics wouldn’t hurt. Stratford played host to the International Goat Symposium last week, a three-day event sponsored by Ontario Goat, the provincial association that oversees this rapidly expanding segment of agriculture.

Read More...

Instead of buying beef, lamb or pork at the butcher shop, why not go to the Pacific National Exhibition and purchase a steer, a lamb or a pig? Former B.C. lieutenant-governor Garde Gardom, 86, has been doing just that for the past 44 years. He buys animals at the 4-H club auction at the PNE, where kids from ages eight to 18 from across B.C. sell the animals they have raised over the past year.

Read More...

An investment of up to $2.09 million is being made to help Ryding-Regency Meat Packers Ltd. improve its operations and capture new markets for Canadian farmers, Canadian Member of Parliament Paul Calandra (Oak Ridges - Markham) announced on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

Read More...

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced the application deadline for the initial phase of the Abattoir Competitiveness Program is being extended to Aug. 27 to allow eligible recipients more time to take advantage of the program.

Read More...

Sheep producers on Prince Edward Island will be able to get public funding to help cover the costs of building or upgrading to five-strand, high-tensile electric fencing. The support will flow through the P.E.I. Sheep Breeders Association from the federal/provincial Growing Forward ag policy funding framework, the province announced Thursday.

Read More...

The suffering in the Cariboo cattle industry continues; battered and beaten by the fiscal drubbing of yearly low returns, it was surviving — barely.

Read More...

A claim that Canadian farms are importing embryos taken from a British cow bred from a clone has food inspectors here closely watching the outcome of a U.K. investigation. Officials with Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) are investigating the unauthorized sale of meat processed from Holstein animals allegedly born from embryos taken from a U.S. clone.

Read More...

Corn and soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) have moved higher over the past week, supported by production uncertainty ahead of the U.S. harvest and recent strength in the wheat market.

Read More...

With the harvest still about a month away, Manitoba's corn crop is showing signs of producing very good yields. Teresa Bergsma of the Manitoba Corn Growers Association at Carman said the 2010 year has seen a surplus of moisture -- a key reason why this year's crops are looking so good.

Read More...

The Canadian hog herd as of July 1 was 2.4 percent smaller than a year earlier, Statistics Canada said.

Read More...

With a late harvest across Western Canada very probable, cash barley prices have been growing stronger. Toby Torkelson, general manager of RayGlen Commodities in Saskatoon, said barley prices have been moving in the right direction.

Read More...

Canola and barley output in Canada during the 2010-11 crop year will be larger than expected based on the production survey released by Statistics Canada early Friday, industry sources said.

Read More...

The Winnipeg Free Press reports the province government plans to take steps to supply cattle with feed if rainfall continues to hurt crop yields.

Read More...

Some Manitoba ranchers say they will have to liquidate their cattle herds if they don't get government aid to buy feed soon. Livestock producers are upset that more than a month after their Prairie grain-farming cousins received a $450 million federal-provincial bailout, they're still waiting for word that they too will receive help surviving one of the soggiest years in recent memory.

Read More...

The owner of Canada's only remaining sugar beet processing plant has announced plans to convert from an income trust to a corporation. Montreal-based Rogers Sugar Income Fund, which processes sugar from beets at Taber, Alta. and operates cane sugar refineries at Vancouver and Montreal, said Monday its board has approved the conversion to a corporate structure effective on or about Jan. 1, 2011. The fund plans to hold a special meeting of unitholders to approve its plan of arrangement on Sept. 29 in Vancouver.

Read More...

The Canadian Pork Council reports demand for the new Pig Trace Canada ear tags has increased since June when the format for the tags was changed.

Read More...

"Canada’s Economic Action Plan continues to help Ontario livestock farmers, meat packers and processors maintain their competitive edge in the marketplace," said MP Paul Calandra. "This investment will allow Ryding-Regency Meat Packers to upgrade their plant facilities and give local farmers more opportunities to boost their bottom line."

Read More...

Yearling prices in Western Canada reached their highest levels in two years as top-quality 800-pound steers in southern Alberta were trading in the range of $112 to $115 per hundredweight.

Read More...

With their pastures and hay fields looking like swamps, some Manitoba ranchers say they will have to liquidate their cattle herds if they don't get government aid to buy feed soon.

Read More...

XL Foods has announced plans to permanently close Saskatchewan's only federally inspected beef packing plant within the next three months, media in that province reported Friday.

Read More...

Toronto beef, veal and lamb processor Ryding-Regency Meat Packers has picked up a federal loan worth over $2 million for upgrades to its production lines and computer tracking system.

Read More...

Brad Wildeman, past president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, says they're seeing encouraging signs for the industry, including stronger prices and smaller herd numbers. Canada's cattleherd has dropped by more than 11 million head, or 1.4%.

Read More...

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and his U.S. counterpart have agreed to set up a "high-level working group" they say will advance a "science-based" approach to global ag trade.

Read More...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has lifted restrictions against imports of canola meal produced at a Bunge Ltd. canola plant in northeastern Saskatchewan.

Read More...

The governments of Canada and Alberta are providing more than $2 million to the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) to help Alberta’s beef producers with age-verification and traceability initiatives. This funding will ensure the CCIA’s Mobile Field Representatives are available to support producers across the province for the next two years.

Read More...

Sticking to the 100-mile diet and the slow food movement just got a little easier for people on southern Vancouver Island with the opening of a new custom meat processing service. Operating out of the existing abattoir at Valley View Farm, 10 kilometres south of Nanaimo, the Vancouver Island Heritage Foodservice Co-op has opened Island Ideal Meats to kill and process livestock for small Island producers.

Read More...

See also: History of Agriculture and classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas In 17th century, Samuel de Champlain and Gabriel Sagard recorded that the Iroquois and Hurons cultivated the soil for maize or corn.

Read More...

The creator of the "dinnerwithjulie.com" web site says the biggest challenge when preparing pork is avoiding the temptation to over-cook the product. Last month Maple Leaf Foods launched Maple Leaf Prime Pork, a moisture enhanced line of 10 different cuts of pork, at retail outlets in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C.

Read More...

A Vancouver Island farmers' co-op says its small-scale federally-inspected abattoir is now open to provide needed slaughter capacity for island farmers. The Vancouver Island Heritage Foodservice Co-op said Tuesday it has opened Island Ideal Meats at Valley View Farm, 10 km south of Nanaimo, with capacity to handle 20 head per week.

Read More...

Buzz that a major Canadian agribusiness would make a play for the former Australian Wheat Board wasn't far off the mark.

Read More...

Hog producers who applied to a federally-funded exit program to pare Canada's hog herd, but whose bids didn't yet make the cut, are asked to let program administrators know "as soon as possible" if they're still ready to halt production.

Read More...

Despite extremely wet conditions at the start of the growing season, Manitoba's soybean crop is looking very strong as producers prepare to begin the harvest. "The crops are looking really good," said Roxanne Roels, executive director for the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association at Carman. "They can handle water really well, and they're looking better than most other crops out there this year."

Read More...