Ontario’s Livestock Research Innovation Corporation was instrumental in helping to get the new Elora Beef Research Centre up and running.

Doing livestock research and innovation right in Ontario

The new CEO of the Livestock Research Innovation Corporation shares his thoughts on the organization’s direction

Mike McMorris, the new CEO of Ontario’s Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC), is a firm believer in systems research — finding ways to leverage better results through collaboration and making connections across species. He’s also focused on better co-ordinating research services, making sure member organizations receive value for their investments and digging deeper into the […] Read more

Jason Shapiro at Grain World. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

Grain World: Geopolitics is back dominating global relations

Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — Geopolitics is again shaping the international scene, including China, Jason Shapiro explained here Thursday at the Grain World conference. Geopolitics, he said, resulted in catastrophic global wars and generated very little peace for close to a century. Shapiro, director of analysis for Geopolitical Futures — an Austin, Tex.-based international risk analysis […] Read more


KFC is testing a “chicken” sandwich and popcorn “chicken” made with a plant-based meat substitute at one of its Toronto-area stores. (CNW Group/KFC Canada)

KFC tests plant-based ‘fried chicken’ in Ontario

Fast-food chicken chain KFC is collecting feedback from a one-day, one-store test of a new Canadian-made plant-based “fried chicken” product for the Canadian market. The Canadian arm of the Yum Brands-owned chain set up a “limited” test run for what it calls KFC Plant-Based Fried Chicken at its 6055 Creditview Rd. store in Mississauga, Ont. […] Read more

Ionophores are used most extensively in feedlot cattle diets, but are generally considered a good investment regardless of the diet fed.

The complicated life of an ionophore

Ron Clarke outlines the basics of how these widely used feed additives work

Ionophores are a class of compounds frequently talked about in animal nutrition, yet infrequently understood by many. First marketed in the 1960s and derived from soil-borne organisms, ionophores are best described as feed additives that reversibly bind ions — chemical entities possessing an electric charge — then subsequently facilitate their transport across membranes. Commonly used […] Read more


In a photo posted Nov. 6, incoming Berthier-Maskinonge MP Yves Perron meets with the riding’s outgoing NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau to pick up active files from her constituency office. (Facebook)

Bloc Quebecois president tapped as party’s ag critic

The Bloc Quebecois will head into the House of Commons next month with a new critic handling the agriculture portfolio. Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has named Yves Perron, the rookie MP for Berthier-Maskinonge, as the party’s critic for agriculture, agri-food and supply management. As the Bloc’s ag critic, Perron replaces Mirabel MP Simon Marcil, who […] Read more



Photo: Canstock

China reshapes global meat markets as swine fever rages

London | Beijing | Reuters – China is scouring the world for meat to replace the millions of pigs killed by African swine fever (ASF), boosting prices, business and profits for European and South American meatpackers as it re-shapes global markets for pork, beef and chicken. The European Union, the world’s second largest pork producer […] Read more

Behind Maple Leaf Foods’ bold call to become carbon neutral

Behind Maple Leaf Foods’ bold call to become carbon neutral

Maple Leaf Foods wants to be carbon neutral for one reason. Its emphasis is no longer about supply-side economics but rather about listening to and serving a market in desperate need of attention

Maple Leaf Foods is not just pretending to be environmentally friendly, it is trying to be a trailblazer in the wild kingdom of proteins. The company has just adopted science-based targets that will help it become the first major agrifood company in the world to be carbon neutral. Clearly motivated by the carbon tax and […] Read more


Bart Lardner, Janelle Smith and John McKinnon are conducting the backgrounding study.

The economics of raising ‘natural’ beef

Researchers are comparing conventional and other backgrounding systems and crunching the numbers

How much of a premium do producers need to cover the extra cost of backgrounding cattle without growth-enhancing technologies and can they offset some of that cost or improve carcass quality with other strategies? Researchers are currently studying those very questions in a 2.5-year backgrounding study. The backgrounding project is one of many feeding research […] Read more

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping after a joint news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China Nov. 6, 2019.  Photo: Reuters/Jason Lee/POOL

China, France sign deals worth $15 bln during visit

Beijing | Reuters – China and France signed contracts totalling $15 billion during a visit by President Emmanuel Macron, a Chinese government official told a news briefing on Wednesday. Deals were struck in the fields of aeronautics, energy and agriculture, including approval for 20 French companies to export poultry, beef and pork to China. They also agreed to expand […] Read more