The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in an email on April 8 that new admissibility requirements for commodities originating from Greece have been set up in CFIA’s Automated Import Reference System (AIRS).

WHY IT MATTERS: Data from Greece’s tourism industry show over 300,000 arrivals in that country from Canada in 2024 alone.

According to the World Organization for Animal Health, Greece began reporting cases of foot-and-mouth disease on March 15 with nine infected cattle at a farm on the island of Lesvos, marking the country’s first such cases since 1994. Its most recent cases, in sheep and one cow on the same island, were reported March 29.

Greece’s cases so far have all occurred on farms in the northern regions of that island, in the Aegean Sea off the west coast of Turkey. So far, 438 animals in total have been confirmed infected.

The findings make Greece the fifth European Union member country currently under foot-and-mouth restrictions from Canada. Hungary, Slovakia and Cyprus all reported cases last year, while Bulgaria is the lone EU member country “not usually considered free” of foot-and-mouth disease.

Germany regained disease-free status last month, while CFIA’s restrictions on Austria were lifted last September.

While findings of the disease in Greece are so far limited to Lesvos, Canada’s new restrictions apply to the entire country, unlike certain other nations such as Brazil, Argentina and Peru in which CFIA classifies some but not all provinces or states as free of foot-and-mouth disease.

What products are prohibited?

At-risk commodities covered by Canada’s import ban include live animals and germplasm; animal products and byproducts; uncooked meat and meat products; raw milk and milk products made from raw milk, such as unpasteurized cheese; unprocessed manure; laboratory material; blood products; livestock feed and equipment that has been in contact with affected animals; raw or unprocessed pet foods; raw hides, skins, wool, antlers, horns, hooves; and any other non-heat-treated products or byproducts from vulnerable animal species.

Species vulnerable to foot-and-mouth disease include hogs, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, camelids (llamas, alpacas) and cervids (deer, elk, moose) among others.

CFIA’s restrictions apply to any at-risk products dating as far back as 28 days before the first symptoms were detected in an affected country.

Foot-and-mouth disease, according to CFIA, is a viral disease characterized by symptoms including blister-like sores on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats and between the hooves; foot lesions, accompanied by acute lameness and reluctance to move; and loss of appetite or milk production. The virus can spread between animals through direct, indirect or airborne transmission.

Canada is free of the disease and has not reported any cases of the disease in livestock since 1952, when an outbreak in southeastern Saskatchewan is believed to have originated with a visitor from an infected farm in Germany, carrying the virus either on clothes or an infected sausage.

Advice for farmers visiting Greece

Canadians are still free to travel to Greece, but CFIA recommends they avoid visiting farms when doing so. Travellers who do visit farms should make sure clothes and footwear worn during those visits are free from soil or manure. Footwear should be cleaned and disinfected, and dry-cleaning of the clothes worn is recommended.

Travellers should also avoid contact with susceptible animals, including farm and zoo animals and wildlife, for 14 days after returning to Canada.

For farmers who travel to Greece, contact with farm animals is not recommended for five days upon return to Canada, when “strict personal decontamination measures” are applied to clothes and footwear, CFIA says.

Travellers also must declare all food products upon arrival in Canada. Generally, CFIA says, meat and dairy products from foot-and-mouth infected countries won’t be allowed, but foods that are “cooked, shelf-stable, commercially prepared and hermetically sealed” may be.

The post Canada blocks meats, dairy from Greece over foot-and-mouth disease appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

The company, whose products include beef, poultry and pork, posted a net profit of $415 million (C$574.8 million) for the October-December period, up 0.5 per cent from a year earlier but slightly below the $428 million forecast by analysts polled by LSEG.

JBS said tighter cattle supplies in the United States have driven up livestock costs and squeezed margins in its North American beef division, its largest business by revenue.

Chief Executive Gilberto Tomazoni told Reuters the U.S. cattle supply outlook would remain challenging this year because of the current downturn in the livestock cycle. The company also faces a labor strike at a Colorado plant.

“We don’t think there will be any significant change this year in U.S. cattle supply. It will continue to be a difficult year for us,” he said, adding that strong customer demand could help offset some of the pressure.

North American beef still better than expected

Analysts said despite the pressures on the business, the results from JBS’ North American beef division were better than expected, including the year-over-year margin compression.

“This reflects resilient U.S. demand and disciplined cost management, even as cattle prices remained high,” analysts at JPMorgan wrote.

Santander analysts said they believed tailwinds from derivatives contracts helped to offset elevated U.S. cattle prices, and noted beef demand remained strong despite higher prices.

JBS shares were little changed in after-hours trading. In a separate statement, the firm announced dividends of $1 per share.

JBS’ total adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell seven per cent to $1.72 billion (C$2.38 billion), but above analysts’ forecasts of $1.56 billion. The adjusted EBITDA margin fell 1.8 percentage points to 7.4 per cent.

Net revenue rose 15 per cent to a record $23.06 billion (C$31.94 billion), topping analysts’ estimate of $22.38 billion, helped by record sales in its North American and Brazilian beef operations.

Logistics costs and China’s measures

Tomazoni said the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran had increased logistics costs, but he said trade flows remained open and the firm has not seen impacts on protein demand in the Persian Gulf. JBS’ three factories in the Middle East are working normally, he added.

JBS, like other beef exporting companies, also faces restrictions in 2026 on expanding shipments to China, as the Asian country has implemented curbs, including quotas and tariffs, on beef imports from key supplier nations.

He said in Brazil’s case, the country will have to place the volumes that do not go to China in other markets, adding domestic sales could partially offset the impact of the restrictions.

— Additional reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru

The post JBS posts flat Q4 profit on record sales but lower U.S. beef margins appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

The labor disruption pits a workforce made up largely of immigrants against the world’s largest meat company, and it has already driven ranchers to deliver cattle to alternate facilities.

Beef prices set records this year after the nation’s cattle supply dropped to a 75-year low. Meatpackers including JBS benefit from climbing prices but also must pay record costs to buy cattle to slaughter.

JBS in November reported third-quarter profit of $581 million (C$787.4 million), down from $693 million a year earlier.

Contract not negotiated fairly says union

“While customers are paying more than they ever have, none of that is trickling down to the frontline worker that’s actually doing all the heavy work,” said Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 union that represents workers in Greeley.

JBS has participated in unfair labor practices and not negotiated fairly on a new contract over the past eight months, Cordova said. Workers sought wages that keep pace with inflation and wanted the company to stop charging them for replacing protective equipment they wear to do their jobs safely, she said.

JBS said it complies with labor laws, sought to reach a fair agreement, and charges employees for protective equipment that is lost or maliciously damaged.

“We stand by the offer we presented,” JBS said. “It is strong, fair, and consistent with the historic national contract reached in 2025.”

Last year, unionized meatpacking workers at multiple plants ratified a first-ever national contract with JBS. However, workers in Greeley already had some benefits in that contract, including sick leave, Cordova said.

JBS did not slaughter Monday

JBS said it was now adjusting cattle deliveries and processing schedules at Greeley and shifting production to other facilities to meet customer needs.

The company did not slaughter cattle at the plant on Monday. Cattle feeders said JBS canceled slaughtering in Greeley for the whole week, and one feeder said he was delivering livestock to a company facility in Cactus, Texas, instead.

“We’ve got way more kill space than finished cattle ready to slaughter,” said Corbitt Wall, a livestock market analyst for DVAuction. Ranchers will “just move them somewhere else.”

Rival meatpacker Tyson Foods closed a massive beef plant in Nebraska this year.

The post JBS workers to strike at U.S. beef plant as consumers face record prices appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

For example, before 2021 ground beef was about $1.00 per pound cheaper than chicken breast, wrote FCC senior economist Graeme Crosbie in a Feb. 11 report. Since mid-2024, the price of ground beef has caught and even surpassed the price of chicken breast in some months.

Chicken prices at retail, farm gate

This rise in beef prices has pushed consumers toward other meats, like chicken and pork. Since 2022, pork prices have risen by more than 13 per cent, chicken prices by almost 22 per cent, and beef prices by nearly 38 per cent, FCC reported on Jan. 28.

Additional demand for chicken has led to higher prices. Fresh or frozen chicken prices rose by an average of 6.7 per cent in the final three months of 2025, FCC said. January to September, they rose 0.9 per cent on average per month.

The rise has been largely independent of farm gate prices in the latter half of the year.

FCC predicted that farm gate prices for chicken will be flat to lower in 2026 as feed costs are expected to remain low.

“Margins will remain positive given strong demand and aforementioned low feed costs,” Crosbie wrote.

Crosbie noted that there’s some concern that avian influenza will hamper producers’ ability to fill demand — particularly in B.C. However, 5.6 per cent more more chicks were placed for broiler production in the latter half of 2025 than in the same period in 2024.

“Assuming avian flu outbreaks are well controlled, this bodes well for production numbers in the first part of 2026,” Crosbie wrote.

Imports of chicken under the Canada-United States-Mexico (CUSMA) and Trans-Pacific (CPTPP) trade agreements reached nearly 100 per cent of tariff-rate quotas for the first time in 2025.

Egg demand, production up

Eggs are also benefiting from demand for economical protein.

While egg consumption per capita has been on the rise since the 90s, there was a “significant jump” in the second half of 2025, said Crosbie.

Specifically, the number of eggs available for consumption rose to 5.54 dozen per person in the third quarter of 2025 from 5.00 dozen per person in the same quarter of 2024.

This “indicates a large increase in production amid slowing population growth,” Crosbie said.

Two opposing forces appear to be in play, Crosbie wrote. There appear to be plenty of eggs available, while there’s only anecdotal evidence of the impacts over the winter of avian influenza on laying flocks.

“Quota allocation may be slowed or altered to begin the year if no significant production capacity was lost,” Crosbie wrote.

“Regardless, the longer-term outlook for egg consumption and production continues to be positive.”

The post Chicken, eggs benefit from demand for economical protein appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

WHY IT MATTERS: The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level in nearly 75 years, pushing up prices and challenging packers’ margins.

The Cargill Meat Solutions facility will stop production around mid-April and fully close around the end of May, a notice filed by Cargill with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development said. The plant specializes in fresh beef, ground beef, and value-added products but does not slaughter cattle.

Cargill said the move was made “to better align our portfolio with current customer demand and prioritize investments,” adding that ground beef production will shift to its other North American facilities with no impact on its consumer contracts. The company operates seven other facilities in the state and some of the employees affected are expected to move to one in nearby Butler, Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee plant closure comes after rival meatpackers JBS and Tyson Foods announced they were shuttering beef plants late last year.

Beef prices are hovering near record highs due to strong demand and reduced supply. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation to hike low-tariff imports of Argentine beef.

U.S. beef packers have been losing money as tight supplies of cattle forced them to pay more for the livestock they slaughter and process into hamburgers and steaks.

The U.S. cattle herd has dropped to the lowest level in nearly 75 years due to persistent drought that dried up grazing pastures. A halt on U.S. imports of Mexican cattle tightened supplies further, as Washington seeks to keep out New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite.

The post Cargill to close Wisconsin beef plant, cut 221 jobs appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

“I look forward to working with the team in advocating on behalf of Canada’s meat industry and delivering value to members. It will be a pleasure to continue working in the agriculture and agri-food space in Ottawa,” Larkin said in a Dec. 9 LinkedIn post.

The Canadian Meat Council represents members of the Canadian meat processing industry.

Earlier this month, Larkin announced he would step down from his role at Grain Growers of Canada. December will be Larkin’s final month at the organization. He’ll officially assume the CEO role on Jan. 19, 2026, the Canadian Meat Council said in a news release.

“He brings the strategic understanding, relationship-building skills and member-focused approach needed to position our industry for long-term success,” said council board chair Russ Mallard.

The meat council said the transition comes at a “critical time for CMC and the broader meat industry,” given growing pressures in areas like trade and regulation.

The post Larkin appointed CEO of Canadian Meat Council appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

In remarks made after releasing second quarter results, the world’s largest meat company said other factors affecting its U.S. beef operation, which accounts for about a third of its net sales, include the U.S. closure of its border with Mexico in May due to a New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite.

“The Mexican situation is obviously relevant,” said Wesley Batista Jr, who leads JBS’ U.S. operations.

The Mexican and the U.S. governments are in talks for potentially reopening the border, he said, estimating around 1.1 million head of feeder cattle cannot go through at this point.

Other operating challenges in the U.S. for the company include the pork business, which has been heavily hit since U.S. President Donald Trump started a trade war with Beijing.

Restrictions on Brazilian chicken exports from China and the European Union, enforced since May after a bird flu outbreak in the world’s largest poultry exporter, are also weighing on JBS, which in June created a dual U.S.-Brazil listing.

CEO Gilberto Tomazoni estimated that if sanitary trade barriers are not removed, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of its Brazil Seara prepared foods division may be impacted by around 1.5 per cent.

Seara’s margins, however, remained in the double digits despite bird flu-related disruptions in the second quarter.

Bolstered also by strong results from JBS’ poultry processor Pilgrims Pride, the firm, now listed in New York, posted record overall net sales of $21 billion (C$29.01 billion) while net profit rose nearly 61 per cent to $528.1 million (C$729.6 billion) in the second quarter.

The post JBS sees US cattle cycle improving from late 2027 appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

A U.S. listing for the world’s biggest meatpacker, which the company has sought since 2009, comes as the brothers, now back on the board of JBS, have also recovered much of their vaunted influence among Brazil’s political elite.

Their prominence was on display on Saturday when Wesley Batista, fresh off a trip to Paris with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, took the stage to discuss the economic outlook with Brazil’s central bank chief and senior bankers.

‘They’re back because they’re investing’

Batista was in good spirits, pushing back against some of the criticism that Brazilian business leaders have leveled against Lula’s leftist government.

“We need to look at what’s working too, because everyone here is making investment plans and growing,” he told the beachside gathering in Sao Paulo state, drawing applause.

Few business leaders can match the brothers’ access in the capital Brasilia. Lula’s public agenda shows that one or both have appeared alongside the president during at least five public events since last year.

They have also held several private meetings with Lula and his ministers, two people with knowledge of the cabinet’s private schedules said.

JBS said its meetings with public officials adhere to its code of conduct. The presidential press office did not respond to questions about the meetings.

It is a far cry from the brothers’ nadir nearly a decade ago, when they confessed to bribing hundreds of politicians, stepped away from their corporate empire and spent months in jail fighting insider trading allegations.

“They’re back because they’re investing,” said a person close to Brazil’s presidency.

Growing global influence

JBS operates hundreds of meatpacking plants across more than 20 countries, rivaling Tyson Foods in the U.S. beef market and ranking among Brazil’s biggest companies by revenue and employment. The Batistas’ parent company, J&F, has expanded across the Brazilian economy into banking, energy and logistics.

A $5 million donation by JBS subsidiary Pilgrim’s Pride to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee underscored the growing global reach of their influence.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren grilled JBS in a public letter last month, suggesting the donation and subsequent approval of the U.S. listing by the Securities Exchange Commission within months “raise serious concerns about a potential quid-pro-quo arrangement.”

In response to questions about the donation, JBS said that Pilgrim’s “has a long bipartisan history of participating in the civic process.”

Operation Car Wash

The brothers’ rehabilitation extends beyond politics.

After years embroiled in Brazil’s biggest-ever corruption scandal, Operation Car Wash, J&F has secured a court order suspending a $2 billion fine for its role in the scheme.

At the height of the scandal, the brothers admitted to bribing some 1,800 politicians. In 2017, Joesley Batista recorded a conversation allegedly discussing a bribery scheme with then-President Michel Temer as part of a plea bargain deal.

The Batista brothers, who stepped away from JBS leadership positions during stretches of the scandal, were later arrested for alleged insider trading based on that sealed plea deal. They were later acquitted in the case.

In 2023, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice suspended the fine against J&F in their plea deal, accepting the argument that prosecutors were biased at the time. The case awaits wider review by the court.

“The conflicts of the past were well handled in a conciliatory way,” said Fabio Medina Osorio, Brazil’s solicitor general during the Temer administration.

The post Brazil beef barons’ Wall Street listing caps a return from exile appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

“Our farmers are being hurt badly and we’re going to have to do something about that… We’re going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think,” Trump said at a White House event, adding that the order would address the hotels sector, too.

He did not say what changes the order would implement or when it would take effect. Representatives for the White House and Department of Homeland Security had no specific comment about the order, while representatives at the Department of Agriculture could not be immediately reached.

“We will follow the president’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

Reliance on immigration

U.S. farm industry groups have long wanted Trump to spare their sector from mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain dependent on immigrants.

Nearly half of the nation’s approximately 2 million farm workers and many dairy and meatpacking workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told CNBC that Trump was reviewing all possible steps but that Congress would have to act.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, a leading farm lobby, said on Thursday that farm workers were key to the nation’s food supply.

“If these workers are not present in fields and barns, there is a risk of supply-chain disruptions similar to those experienced during the pandemic,” Duvall said in a statement.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in labor shortages and supply-chain snarls, with meat plants forced to idle and dairy farms to dump milk, and consumers encountering emptier shelves at grocery stores.

Trump acknowledges impacts

In recent days, demonstrations have been taking place in major U.S. cities to protest immigration raids.

Trump is carrying out his campaign promise to deport immigrants in the country illegally. But protesters and some Trump supporters have questioned the targeting of those who are not convicted criminals, including in places of employment such as those that sparked last week’s protests in Los Angeles.

On Thursday, Trump acknowledged the impact of the crackdown on sectors such as the hotel industry, which includes his company. The Trump Organization has said Trump’s adult sons are running his business.

“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he wrote on his social media platform. “Changes are coming!”

Farmers have a legal option for hiring temporary or seasonal labor with the H-2A visa program, which allows employers to bring in seasonal workers if they can show there are not enough U.S. workers willing, qualified and available to do the job.

Rollins said Trump was “looking at every potential tool in the toolkit” and pointed to the length of the temporary H-2A visas.

The president understands that we can’t feed our nation or the world without that labor force, and he’s listening to the farmers on that,” she told CNBC.

—Reporting by Jeff Mason, Susan Heavey and P.J. Huffstutter; additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya, Aatreyee Dasgupta, Leah Douglas and Ted Hesson.

The post Trump promises immigration order soon on farm and leisure workers appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

In the wake of Tuesday’s sweep by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, livestock traders and market analysts expressed concerns that the potential deportation of undocumented workers from such raids could disrupt U.S. food production at a time when beef prices have soared and meat processors report a labor shortage.

ICE agents detained about 74 to 76 workers out of roughly 140 at the Glenn Valley Foods plant, President Chad Hartmann said. Other workers did not show up on Wednesday because they felt afraid or traumatized, he said, adding that the facility’s production dropped to about 20 per cent of normal.

Glenn Valley Foods sells steak, chicken and corned beef products to restaurants and grocery stores, according to its website.

Retail beef prices have set records as the size of the U.S. cattle herd has declined to its lowest level in 70 years after a years-long drought raised feed costs. Consumer demand for steaks and hamburgers has stayed strong nevertheless.

Glenn Valley Foods is trying to determine how long it will take to hire new employees, Hartmann said.

“The hole that got punched into our business is staffing,” he said.

Traders fear labour shortages

Livestock traders worried that immigration raids could slow meat companies’ demand to buy cattle from farmers to process into beef, if the companies do not have enough workers. Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures came under pressure on Tuesday during the raid, after recently hitting records.

“There’s certainly going to be nervousness out there on where the labor situation goes, going forward,” said Matt Wiegand, a commodity broker for risk management firm FuturesOne in Nebraska.

Meatpackers still face an acute worker shortage, said Julie Anna Potts, president of the Meat Institute industry group. It worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, when major companies such as Tyson Foods temporarily shut plants because of a lack of workers.

Glenn Valley used E-Verify, a federal database used for checking employees’ immigration status. Hartmann said Homeland Security told him on Wednesday that there was no better system.

“We will have to continue to use it,” he said.

ICE alleges large-scale employment of illegal immigrants

ICE said a criminal investigation was ongoing into what immigration officials called a large-scale employment of immigrants who are present in the U.S. illegally.

Footage of the Glenn Valley raid released by ICE showed agents searching the plant, restraining workers’ hands and ankles, and taking them into custody.

ICE officers have been intensifying efforts in recent weeks to deliver on U.S. President Donald Trump’s agenda of record-level deportations.

Tensions boiled over in Los Angeles over the weekend when protesters took to the streets after ICE arrested migrants at Home Depot stores, a garment factory and a warehouse, according to rights advocates. On Tuesday night, demonstrators marched in New York, Atlanta and Chicago.

More than half of all meatpacking workers in the U.S. are immigrants, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank.

The Omaha World-Herald newspaper said on Tuesday that raids were also reported at local plants run by large meatpackers Tyson and JBS USA. Tyson and JBS told Reuters their facilities were not raided.

The post U.S. immigration raid of Omaha meat plant cuts staff, fuels food production worries appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.