Quebec’s provincial government will offer an ad-hoc aid package of over $17.5 million for hog farmers whose herds were hit by post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Payment details for the aid package, announced Thursday by Agriculture Minister Laurent Lessard, are expected to be finalized in January. La Financiere agricole, the provincial ag lending and funding […] Read more
Quebec offers $17.5M for PMWS-affected hog farms
Ottawa to invest $5M in Bioniche
The Belleville, Ont. maker of a vaccine expected to reduce E. coli bacteria levels in cattle and cow-pies is the first recipient of federal funding under the new AgriOpportunities program. Bioniche Life Sciences will get a repayable contribution of $5 million from Ottawa toward the $25 million first phase of its planned $107 million facility […] Read more
Interest deferral extended on CAIS overpayments
The federal and provincial governments plan to defer collection of interest on CAIS overpayments until Dec. 31, 2008 as part of their support plan for the livestock sector. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced the measure Wednesday as one of a list of alterations to help livestock producers quicker access to cash from various existing government […] Read more
Ont. soybean growers want back at merger table
Three weeks after walking away from merger talks with Ontario’s wheat and corn growers’ groups, members of Ontario Soybean Growers say they’d rather not call off the engagement yet. About 100 soybean growers at the OSG Committee Members’ meeting Wednesday in London, Ont., brought “multiple” resolutions forward from several districts, asking OSG’s board to reconsider […] Read more
Aleutian disease spreads to Nfld. wild mink
Commercial mink farmers in Newfoundland are warned to keep wild mink off their farms now that Aleutian disease has arrived in the wild population. The provincial natural resources department announced Wednesday that eight of 18 wild animals trapped and tested between Marysvale and Holyrood in the Conception Bay area have tested positive for the disease, […] Read more
Quebec boosts crop health enforcement powers
Quebec’s provincial government is moving to grant itself powers to set up “protected crop zones” and inspect, seize or confiscate as needed to enforce them. Agriculture Minister Laurent Lessard introduced the new provincial Crop Health Protection Act on Friday, replacing the earlier Plant Protection Act and previous laws on disease prevention in potatoes, as well […] Read more
Food makers’ margins rise, retailers’ fall: review
The Wal-Mart effect has hit Canada’s grocery store industry, pressuring prices in supermarkets even as Canadian food manufacturers’ margins show steady improvement, according to a year-end review by the George Morris Centre. The agricultural industry think-tank, based in Guelph, Ont., on Tuesday posted its year-end review of Canada’s food industry, authored by senior market analyst […] Read more
McCain plans potato plant in U.S. northwest
Frozen food giant McCain Foods plans to build a $150 million processing plant in the U.S. Pacific northwest, but won’t yet say where or how big. The New Brunswick-based company issued a release Wednesday saying its facility would be designed to make French fries and potato specialties mostly for food service and quick-service restaurant customers […] Read more
Sask. poultry farmers press for flu cleanup funds
The cost burden for cleaning up poultry farms after outbreaks of avian flu shouldn’t be left to affected farmers alone, Saskatchewan’s poultry groups said Tuesday. The poultry groups, pooling their resources under the banner of the Saskatchewan Poultry Industry Emergency Management Team (SPIEMT), said Tuesday that they had raised $100,000 to help a farmer in […] Read more
Cargill to shut NW Sask. elevator
Cargill plans to close its grain elevator and farm service centre at Cut Knife, Sask., effective Dec. 31. Services offered to Cargill customers at Cut Knife (about 60 km west of North Battleford) are to be transferred to three “regional” Cargill facilities: its expanded operation at North Battleford, its ag input dealership at Unity, Sask. […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
