File photo of chicks on a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Avian flu hits Alberta poultry farms

Three more poultry farms, one backyard flock also infected in Ontario

Reading Time: 2 minutes Three poultry flocks in central Alberta have now joined an expanding list of Canadian commercial poultry farms hit by highly pathogenic avian influenza. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Thursday it had confirmed high-path H5N1 avian flu on Wednesday in two commercial poultry flocks in Mountain View County, between Calgary and Red Deer, and in […] Read more

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland holds a news conference before delivering the 2022-23 budget in Ottawa on April 7, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Supply chain improvement funds pledged in federal budget

Money also added for support of TFWs, P.E.I. potato sector

Reading Time: 5 minutes The federal government’s release last week of its Emissions Reduction Plan has turned out to be the spoiler for new ag funding in Thursday’s 2022 budget — although more money is also pledged to help strengthen cross-country supply chains generally. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Thursday laid out a federal budget with about $452.3 billion […] Read more


The United Nations’ General Assembly Hall in Manhattan. (BWZenith/iStock/Getty Images)

Food, farming, forestry must be transformed to curb global warming, UN says

Earlier draft of panel report called for reduced intake of meat

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Protecting forests, changing diets, and altering farming methods could contribute around a quarter of the greenhouse gas cuts needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations’ climate panel. But the changes are unlikely to happen unless governments act to spur them along, the report from the Intergovernmental […] Read more

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B.C. doubling seat count at Saskatchewan vet college

Saskatoon veterinary school to take 40 B.C. students

Reading Time: 2 minutes The interprovincial cost-sharing agreement supporting the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) will now allow for twice as many students from British Columbia. The B.C. government and the U of S on Monday announced the province will now put up almost $10.7 million to double the number of provincially subsidized students to […] Read more


File photo of a migrating flock of snow geese in Canada. (Pchoui/iStock/Getty Images)

Eastern Canada books more avian flu cases

Backyard flock near Peterborough, wild birds in Quebec confirmed infected

Reading Time: 3 minutes Highly pathogenic avian influenza cases are turning up in new areas of Eastern Canada, with a backyard flock in central Ontario and a few wild birds in southern Quebec now confirmed infected. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Saturday confirmed high-path H5N1 avian flu in a backyard flock in the township of Selwyn, Ont., north […] Read more

File photo of chicks on a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario backyard flock hit with avian flu

No commercial flocks in area, feather industry says

Reading Time: 2 minutes A fourth flock of domestic birds in southwestern Ontario has come down with highly pathogenic avian influenza, this time a backyard flock with no commercial farms nearby. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said Thursday it confirmed high-path H5N1 avian flu that day in the township of Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation on the […] Read more


Turkeys. (Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Third Ontario poultry flock hit by avian flu

Backyard flock with 'increased mortality' also being tested; cases now also in four U.S. border states

Reading Time: 3 minutes A third poultry flock in southwestern Ontario has been confirmed with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza — with another backyard flock now being tested, and the disease also now present in four U.S. border states. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Wednesday announced it had confirmed the presence of high-path H5N1 in a poultry […] Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to media at the GLOBE Forum 2022 in Vancouver on March 29, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

Canada lays out $9.1 billion roadmap to meet 2030 climate targets

About $1 billion earmarked for new or expanded ag programs

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Canada released its first real roadmap to meeting 2030 climate targets on Tuesday, laying out detailed plans and $9.1 billion in new spending to cut planet-warming carbon emissions after years failing to meet its goals. The Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) is the first time Canada has had a comprehensive plan, rather than just […] Read more


Turkeys. (Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Second southwestern Ontario farm hit with avian flu

Separate H5N1 strains hit separate turkey farms

Reading Time: 2 minutes A second turkey operation in southwestern Ontario has been confirmed and quarantined with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza — but of a strain separate from the one seen in an outbreak in the same region a day earlier. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a statement Monday its National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease […] Read more

File photo of a U.S. veterinary medical officer examining tissue samples for avian influenza virus. (Suzanne Deblois photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

High-path avian flu drops into southwestern Ontario

H5N1 confirmed on poultry farm

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s feather sector is moving to a “heightened biosecurity advisory” after highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed this weekend in a poultry flock. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday it had confirmed high-path H5N1 in a flock in southern Ontario, a day after the Ontario Feather Board Command Centre (FBCC) published a report of […] Read more