Following its U.S. arm’s move this spring, McDonald’s now plans to source only chicken raised without medically important antibiotics for its restaurants in Canada by the end of 2018. And Canada’s chicken producer group says the Canadian chain’s move dovetails with a direction the Canadian industry was headed already. “McDonald’s believes antibiotics have important benefits, […] Read more

McDonald’s Canada to tighten antibiotic policy for chicken

Cancer ‘hazard’ not a cancer ‘risk,’ meat industry cautions
A new report classifying processed meats such as hot dogs and bacon as “carcinogenic” to humans doesn’t set out a cause-and-effect link between meats and cancer, industry groups caution. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a research arm of the World Health Organization, on Monday published a report placing processed meats in its […] Read more
Beef producers applaud TPP Agreement
News Roundup from the October 26, 2015 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
No one was happier about the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement than the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). The improved access alone promised in the agreement could double or even triple exports of Canadian beef to Japan, which amounted to $103 million in 2014. “This is really fantastic news for Canada’s beef producers,” says CCA […] Read more

CP books more grain revenue on less grain in Q3
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) boosted its income from Canadian grain by five per cent in its third quarter ending Sept. 30, on its way to its highest-ever Q3 gross revenue. Across all its business segments, the Calgary-based railway on Tuesday reported net income of $323 million on $1.709 billion in revenue for the quarter, down […] Read more

Alta. names new deputy ag minister
A former assistant deputy minister in municipal affairs is now Alberta’s chief agricultural bureaucrat. Beverly Yee was named Thursday as the new deputy minister for agriculture and forestry, replacing Jason Krips. Yee, who has worked for the province since 1994, has held several executive management positions, the province said. Her most recent posting was as […] Read more

Court rejects Ont. growers’ bid for stay on neonic regs
The association for Ontario corn and soybean growers is “evaluating several options” after its request for a stay of the province’s new limits on neonicotinoid seed treatments was rejected. The Ontario Superior Court denied the request from Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) for a stay and interpretation on the neonic regulations, which became law in […] Read more
History: Guest editorial by the chairman of the National Council of Canadian Beef Producers
Reprinted from the November 1949 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Guest editorial By George G. Ross, Aden, Alta., chairman, National Council of Canadian Beef Producers The recognition by the Department of National Revenue of permanent herds of livestock as capital investment with the returns from dispersal sales of basic herds treated as return of capital and therefore free of income tax, paves the way for […] Read more

Sask. moves to toughen farmland ownership law
The Saskatchewan government is set to lay down new law on who can and can’t buy up farmland in the province, backstopped with more enforcement and heavier penalties. Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart on Tuesday introduced amendments to the province’s Farmland Security Act, the legislation that already prevents non-Canadians and entities that aren’t 100 per cent […] Read more

Most of farm file’s handlers to return to Commons
Most federal parliamentarians with experience in the agriculture and agri-food portfolio will be back in the House of Commons under a new majority Liberal government. As of Tuesday morning, prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were elected or leading in 184 of 338 seats, for a decisive majority following Monday’s federal election. Stephen Harper’s Conservatives return […] Read more
Research: A living lab
News Roundup from the September 2015 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
First-year test results from the Western Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network are going out to participating producers as the research team gears up for the second cycle of this five-year project. The foundation was laid by recruiting herds into a network intended to inform industry on the health status of the western herd and pertinent management […] Read more