Reading Time: 2 minutes Just in time for Christmas, the Beef Cattle On-Farm Biosecurity Standard is complete and available online for that hard-to-please bovine on your gift list. And if all goes to plan, an owner’s version should by ready by then, too. "The standard has been published. We’re still working on a producer’s manual that will be an […] Read more
Canada-wide cattle biosecurity standard ready to roll
Cattle industry scrambles for additional capacity
Reading Time: 4 minutes Anxiety hangs over the cattle industry in Alberta and across Canada as the fall calf run gears up, the yearling run is on — and XL Foods’ Lakeside beef plant remains closed to slaughter cattle. "If it doesn’t reopen, that will devastate the Canadian industry. It’s disappointing this thing couldn’t move faster and with more […] Read more
“Hang on, all things will pass”: XL chief Nilsson
Reading Time: 4 minutes XL Foods co-CEO Lee Nilsson says the company has done everything within its power to work with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). XL’s Lakeside plant at Brooks, Alta., which slaughters about 40 per cent of Canadian cattle, has been closed since Sept. 27 due to E. coli contamination, leading to 12 confirmed cases of […] Read more
Montana hog plant envisioned near Alta. border
Reading Time: 2 minutes Montana pork producers are taking a wait-and-see approach in regard to a new pork-processing plant at Shelby that could draw large numbers of Canadian hogs. Governor Brian Schweitzer announced in February that Chinese investors were interested in developing a facility capable of processing 800,000 pigs. But additional details are scarce. "At this point there’s no […] Read more
Meat packer SunGold lays off 75 staff
Reading Time: 2 minutes A decision to pull out of the exporter-unfriendly European beef market has resulted in 75 layoffs at Alberta processor SunGold Specialty Meats. “That’s unfortunately a very painful process,” said Howard Oudman, general manager of the plant at Innisfail, about 30 km south of Red Deer. “It’s painful for the owners, but it’s even more painful […] Read more
Cattle producers move to set up charitable foundation
Reading Time: 2 minutes Members of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) have given the green light for the formation of an arm’s-length charitable foundation. “It’s a means for people to put money towards the industry. It provides a tool for people who want to put something back into the industry to be able to do it with a tax […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
