
Tag Archives Poultry

Animal health body backs bird flu vaccination to avoid pandemic
Vaccination should focus on free-range birds, WOAH chief says
Paris | Reuters — Governments should consider vaccinating poultry against bird flu, which has killed hundreds of millions of birds and infected mammals worldwide, to prevent the virus from turning into a new pandemic, the head of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) said. The severity of the current outbreak of avian influenza, commonly […] Read more

Global chicken meat oversupply improving, Brazil’s BRF says
Lower grain costs also expected to boost margins
Sao Paulo | Reuters — Chicken prices are rising as companies start to cut production to reduce global oversupply, Fabio Mariano, CFO of BRF SA, said on Tuesday, after a glut helped to push the Brazilian pork and poultry producer to a first-quarter loss. The firm posted a 1.024 billion-real (C$287.7 million) net loss for […] Read more

New report shows poultry sector burdened by expectations
Simpson Centre paper calls for increased research, financial sustainability for sector
Updated, May 17 — The Simpson Centre for Food and Agricultural Policy has released a report detailing its findings on challenges now facing Canada’s poultry sector. The report, co-authored by research assistant Shawn Wiskar and centre director Guillaume Lhermie and released Thursday, used a focus group of six stakeholders in the Canadian poultry industry. It […] Read more

JBS opens cleaning unit after outside firm fined for hiring kids
Company says has cut ties to cleaning contractor
Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA, one of the biggest U.S. meatpackers, is creating an internal company to clean some of its processing plants after a private sanitation firm it employed was accused of hiring children for dangerous work. The launch shows the complexities involved in replacing Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), a firm that […] Read more

Avian flu outbreaks climb in Quebec poultry
Thirteen outbreaks reported in province so far in April
After a relatively quiet March with just one outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic poultry, Quebec has turned up 13 outbreaks so far this month. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency in April has reported detections of high-path avian flu at 13 sites in that province, including: three commercial barns in the regional county […] Read more

U.S. begins testing bird flu vaccines for poultry after record outbreak
Four vaccines to be tested
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. government is testing four potential bird flu vaccines for poultry, officials said on Friday, after more than 58 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have died in the nation’s worst outbreak ever. The trials, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service, are the first step […] Read more

Ontario domestic dog dies of avian flu
Three poultry barns east of Montreal see outbreaks in space of a week
Pet owners are being warned not to feed their animals raw meat from poultry or game birds or allow pets to consume or play with dead wild birds after the death of a dog from avian flu in southern Ontario. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Tuesday reported the results of a necropsy on an […] Read more

High-path avian flu pops back up in southern Ontario
Three outbreaks in Canadian poultry this month, plus skunks
Feather industry officials are calling for “extreme caution” among poultry farmers after cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza turned up at two southern Ontario properties in the past week. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it has confirmed cases of the virus detected last Friday in a backyard poultry flock in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, […] Read more

Maple Leaf sees ‘inflection point’ beyond red ink of 2022
Packer books net losses in Q4, full-year
Another of Canada’s major pork and poultry packers has reported significant net losses in its 2022 ledger, but sees “green shoots” suggesting a return to normal pork markets and stable supply chains this year. Maple Leaf Foods on Thursday reported a net loss of $311.89 million on $4.739 billion in gross sales for its fiscal […] Read more

Cyberattack a $23 million hit on Maple Leaf ledger
Company refused to pay ransom
Last fall’s ransomware attack at pork and poultry packer Maple Leaf Foods led to an “adverse economic impact” of $23 million or more on the company’s bottom line as it worked to restore systems, officials said. The company on Thursday released that estimate as part of its fourth-quarter financial report, in which it booked a […] Read more