Bison on pasture near Teulon, Man. on May 30, 2023. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

Bison industry expanding, becoming mainstream

Bison meat emerging from 'seasonal' perception

MarketsFarm — The Canadian bison industry has been through some difficult times during the last few years but is now emerging from those doldrums, according to Manitoba Bison Association president Robert Johnson. “Between the two drought years and the COVID-19 pandemic, then high feed prices, probably the last two years have been pretty crappy for […] Read more

(TourEiffel.ca)

Olymel to shut two pork processing plants

Triomphe ham, deli meat plants to close in late April

Meat packer Olymel is set to close a chapter in its acquisition history when it shuts down two Montreal-area pork further-processing plants it bought five years ago. Olymel, a division of ag co-operative Sollio, announced Wednesday it will close the former Aliments Triomphe plant at Blainville and its sister plant about 18 km southeast at […] Read more


(Montpak.ca)

Préval closes deal for Alberta lamb processor, feedlot

Quebec firm picks up defunct NALCO's Alberta assets

Quebec agrifood firm Préval Ag has wrapped up its deal to buy the Alberta processing and production assets of the defunct North American Lamb Co., marking Préval’s first move into the lamb sector outside its home province. As per Alberta Farmer’s report last week, Préval confirmed Monday its divisions Westfine Meats and West Excelamb are […] Read more

(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Pork packer Olymel laying off dozens of managers

Market unpredictability, 'growth challenges' cited

Major Canadian pork and poultry packer Olymel has laid off 57 people from its management ranks and eliminated another 120 administrative positions, citing the company’s current “market context and growth challenges.” Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec-based Sollio Cooperative Group, said Tuesday its affected employees were notified Monday and have received their layoff notices. […] Read more


As higher protein prices hit consumers in the first half of 2022, chicken had a price advantage over beef and pork.

Chicken lords over beef with consumers

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

Beef is still king of the meat case in U.S. grocery stores. But chicken wins hands down in per capita consumption and has done so for years. Beef is regarded as the meat treat and chicken the survival food for protein. Now that food inflation stalks grocery store aisles and talk is increasing about the […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Maple Leaf to further consolidate Ontario poultry packing

Schomberg, Ont. plant to close by end of 2023

Maple Leaf Foods’ ongoing plan to consolidate its fresh poultry processing at London, Ont. now also includes the work from two more existing plants it owns north of Toronto. Maple Leaf said Wednesday that in “pursuing further optimization opportunities,” it will shift poultry volumes now processed at Bradford and nearby Schomberg to the new London […] Read more


File photo of piglets grazing in a U.K. pasture. (Grandbrothers/iStock/Getty Images)

Britain facing mass cull of pigs due to butcher shortage

London | Reuters — Britain’s farming industry has warned that hundreds of thousands of pigs may have to be culled within weeks unless the government issues visas to allow more butchers into the country. An acute shortage of butchers and slaughterers in the meat processing industry has been exacerbated by COVID-19 and Britain’s post-Brexit immigration […] Read more

Meat industry triumphs over COVID-19

Meat industry triumphs over COVID-19

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

The North American meat and poultry industry faced unprecedented challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic began to wreak havoc throughout the continent last spring. The many ways the industry tackled these challenges and returned to a semblance of normalcy in such a short time is one of the greatest stories in the long history of the […] Read more


File photo of a small greenhouse operation in Quebec. (ManonAllard/E+/Getty Images)

New pilot program for agri-food labour welcomed

Meat processors, greenhouse and mushroom growers, livestock producers get first crack at program

Ottawa — Federal officials hope a new pilot program will help stabilize ongoing labour issues in certain sectors of the agri-food value chain, while also providing citizenship to some foreign workers. Critics, however, contend more support is needed. “This pilot will help to ensure that farmers and processors have the much-needed skills, experience and labour […] Read more

Recent online comments have unfairly targeted workers at meat-processing plants for the coronavirus outbreak.

Public education, without scapegoating, key to slowing COVID-19

As community leaders in Brooks and High River work to ensure people understand public health directives, they’re also trying to counter unwarranted condemnations

Note: This is the final instalment of a three-part series. Read the first article here. And the second article here. Alberta public health officials working desperately to curtail the spread of COVID-19 must find a way to reach the most vulnerable populations without encouraging racist undertones in online comment sections and the affected communities. Workers […] Read more