Stories by John Greig | Canadian Cattlemen

Beef sirloin tips are among the many Ryding-Regency-produced beef products now recalled. (Panainte Ancuta-Georgiana/iStock/Getty Images)

New meat recall prolongs Ryding-Regency shutdown

By John Greig October 4, 2019

Ryding-Regency Meat Packers remains shut down, making an already tight processing capacity situation event more challenging for Ontario farmers. The Toronto company, along with St. Ann’s Food, announced a recall Tuesday of a long list of its products because of concerns with E. coli O157:H7. More products were added to the recall on Thursday. The […] Read more

Food security is an issue in this election for 54 per cent of Canadians. (FatCamera/E+/Getty Images)

General, Markets

Food, farming not expected to be big election issues

By John Greig September 17, 2019

Canadians don’t think that food and agriculture will be a significant issue in the current federal election. A survey conducted Sept. 9 and released Tuesday by Angus Reid Global with the support of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab shows 31 per cent of Canadians believe food and agriculture will be a prime electoral issue during […] Read more

Canadian dairy farmers will get $345 million in direct payments in the first year of an eight-year, $1.75 billion support package. (John Greig photo)

Dairy Cattle, Livestock

Dairy farmers to get direct cash payment as trade compensation

By John Greig August 16, 2019

Canadian dairy farmers will be getting direct cash compensation after the government gave up dairy market access to other countries in recent trade deals. The compensation follows promises by the Trudeau government — and the Harper government before it — that dairy farmers would be compensated in some form for the loss of market. Why […] Read more

File photo of a small greenhouse operation in Quebec. Greenhouse crop producers will be among the specific beneficiaries of a new federal pilot program for temporary foreign workers. (ManonAllard/E+/Getty Images)

General, Markets

Agriculture foreign workers get new path to residency

By John Greig July 12, 2019

Updated, July 15 — The federal government has announced a pilot program that will make it easier for farms and food companies to maintain workers they recruit from around the world. Ahmed Hussen, minister for immigration, refugees and citizenship, announced the program Friday at Maple Leaf Foods in Mississauga. Why it matters: There’s a labour […] Read more

The proposal to increase checkoff funding for Beef Farmers of Ontario passed with a significant majority this year. (John Greig photo)

Beef Cattle, Livestock

Ontario beef checkoff to rise by $1.50

By John Greig February 20, 2019

Ontario beef farmers have approved an increase of $1.50 in checkoff per animal to fund an ambitious industry-wide marketing effort for Ontario beef. Producers at the Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) annual meeting in Mississauga on Wednesday voted 87 per cent in favour of the plan. A similar plan was rejected at last year’s annual […] Read more

The IBV outbreak in Canada in 2016 and 2017 first affected layers, whereas it affected broilers first in the U.S. (Photo courtesy Poultry Industry Council)

Livestock, Poultry/Eggs

Greig: Why IBV is such a tough bug

By John Greig May 17, 2018

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) continues to find ways to keep itself relevant to poultry farmers, researchers and veterinarians across North America — much to their dismay. Why it matters: Despite lots of research and efforts to find ways to manage it, the virus continues to mutate and show up in flocks with different symptoms in […] Read more

Forages, Livestock

Forage testing more complicated, but rations more accurate

Forage testing has evolved significantly in the past three to five years, with more precise tools for livestock ration development

By John Greig April 10, 2018

Forage quality evaluation has moved from rule of thumb to rule of rumen. Mark Bowman, a ruminant nutritionist with Grand Valley Fortifiers in Cambridge, Ont., told the annual meeting of the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association in Guelph last November that forage testing has evolved significantly in the past three to five years, with more […] Read more

The Shakespeare location of Homestead Organics was purchased in 2016. (Homestead Organic photo)

Crops

Ontario organic grain buyer Homestead closing

By John Greig April 9, 2018

One of the province’s leading organic retailers and buyers of organic grains will shut its doors Friday. Homestead Organics, founded and still run by organic driving force Tom Manley, will be sold off, likely in parts. The company said its Shakespeare, Ont. mill is in the process of being sold and will continue as an […] Read more

Tom Kilcer recommends triticale as a cover crop with high feed value, and says to manage it as a feed crop, not just a cover, using seed treatment and good seed.

Crops, Forages

Don’t call it ‘cover,’ call it ‘feed’

How sacrificing some silage yield can gain another six to 10 tons of forage per acre

By John Greig March 27, 2018

Tom Kilcer says farmers are missing an opportunity to create greater value from cover crops by using them in a carefully planned winter forage system. He’s promoting a system that gives up some yield in corn silage planted after the winter forage in order to gain overall total yield over a whole growing season. Kilcer, […] Read more

(Photo by Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service)

Crops, Machinery

Industry still looking for new NH3 tank rule break

By John Greig March 19, 2018

Fertilizer Canada and the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers (CAAR) say there will be enough anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks available to supply the fertilizer to farmers during this growing season. New Transport Canada regulations came into force Jan. 12, which affect the frequency of hydrostatic testing and visual inspection of ammonia nurse and applicator tanks and […] Read more

U.S. grains: Corn highest since 2013

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures extend slide as corn prices charge higher

Cargill to crush canola at Regina

GFM Network News