Nova Scotia is set to gather its agricultural, environmental and public health inspection work into one department, along with other consolidation and cuts in its latest budget. Finance Minister Diana Whalen’s 2015-16 budget, released Thursday, calls for consolidation of inspection, compliance and enforcement functions in its Natural Resources, Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment departments, plus its […] Read more
N.S. consolidates inspections in cost-cutting budget
Ontario doubles down on feeder cattle loans
Ontario cattle feeders will be able to take out larger loans to buy livestock under an expansion of the provincial feeder cattle loan guarantee program. The program guarantees 25 per cent of a financial institution’s loan to one of Ontario’s 18 feeder cattle co-operatives, which then allows the co-op’s members a “more competitive” interest rate […] Read more
Neonic rules ‘unworkable’ for Ont. corn, soy growers
Ontario’s planned regulation to limit the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments might as well be a ban from where the organization sits representing the province’s corn and soy producers. After reviewing the draft regulation, which provincial officials posted March 23 for public comment until May 7, Grain Farmers of Ontario said Thursday it “strongly opposes […] Read more
Top court’s dismissal halts farmers’ suit over CWB assets
The bulk of a proposed class action by four Prairie farmers, over what they called the federal government’s “expropriation” of Canadian Wheat Board assets, has hit its final wall. The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday dismissed, with costs, the farmers’ application for leave to appeal their 2013 loss in Federal Court. The four — […] Read more
Private wells added to Sask. flood protection program
A provincial program covering Saskatchewan residents’ costs to put up emergency, permanent flood protection has been expanded to include projects to protect private wells. The province’s Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program (EFDRP) is offered to communities, rural municipalities, businesses, non-profit organizations, individual farm and country residences and cottages facing “imminent flooding.” The 2015 program, launched […] Read more
From the Pampas to the Prairies, 1872-1885: Part 2
Reprinted from the December 1947 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
From the Pampas to the Prairies, 1872-1885: Part 1 C.D. LaNauze, Lacombe, Alta. The author writes of his father, T.S. LaNauze: ‘I am sorry to say the country here is far from improving and is in a very lawless state. War is now declared between the “red” and the “whites” and the whole country is […] Read more
SW Ont. turkey farm quarantined, avian flu suspected
A quarantine has been set up at a commercial turkey farm west of Woodstock, Ont. pending the outcome of federal tests for avian flu in the flock. Ontario’s Feather Board Command Centre, the emergency response office for the province’s chicken, turkey, egg and hatchery sectors, said in a statement Monday that birds from the flock […] Read more
Canada blocking poultry from Montana, South Dakota
Canada is blocking cross-border shopping for raw poultry, eggs and live birds from another border state, after H5N2 avian flu was confirmed in central Montana on Friday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Friday expanded restrictions that block travellers to Canada from H5N2-positive states from bringing in live birds, hatching eggs, eggs, yolks, egg […] Read more
Que. Olymel workers approve deal to end strike
Unionized workers at meat packer Olymel’s hog slaughter and packing plant in Quebec’s Beauce region are heading back to work after voting to accept a new six-year labour deal. Out of about 940 striking workers at the Vallee-Jonction hog plant represented by CSN (Confederation des syndicats nationaux), 816 met Friday at nearby Tring-Jonction and voted […] Read more
CFIA defends meat inspection staffing, service levels
Shifts in federal meat inspection staffing levels and work priorities are the result of a “risk-based, outcome-based” approach to food safety, not cuts, Canadian Food Inspection Agency brass say. CFIA was responding this week to allegations by its inspectors’ union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s (PSAC) Agriculture Union, that the agency is “quietly unravelling” […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
