Reading Time: 2 minutes A quarantine has been set up at a commercial turkey farm west of Woodstock, Ont. pending the outcome of federal tests for avian flu in the flock. Ontario’s Feather Board Command Centre, the emergency response office for the province’s chicken, turkey, egg and hatchery sectors, said in a statement Monday that birds from the flock […] Read more
SW Ont. turkey farm quarantined, avian flu suspected
Canada blocking poultry from Montana, South Dakota
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada is blocking cross-border shopping for raw poultry, eggs and live birds from another border state, after H5N2 avian flu was confirmed in central Montana on Friday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Friday expanded restrictions that block travellers to Canada from H5N2-positive states from bringing in live birds, hatching eggs, eggs, yolks, egg […] Read more
Que. Olymel workers approve deal to end strike
Reading Time: 2 minutes Unionized workers at meat packer Olymel’s hog slaughter and packing plant in Quebec’s Beauce region are heading back to work after voting to accept a new six-year labour deal. Out of about 940 striking workers at the Vallee-Jonction hog plant represented by CSN (Confederation des syndicats nationaux), 816 met Friday at nearby Tring-Jonction and voted […] Read more
CFIA defends meat inspection staffing, service levels
Reading Time: 2 minutes Shifts in federal meat inspection staffing levels and work priorities are the result of a “risk-based, outcome-based” approach to food safety, not cuts, Canadian Food Inspection Agency brass say. CFIA was responding this week to allegations by its inspectors’ union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s (PSAC) Agriculture Union, that the agency is “quietly unravelling” […] Read more
CWB’s new laker boat opens St. Lawrence Seaway
Reading Time: 2 minutes The first of CWB’s new laker vessels marked the official opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway for 2015 on Thursday, passing through the South Shore Canal’s St. Lambert Lock near Montreal. The seaway navigation season’s official opening had previously been set for March 27, but officials opted in early March to put off the opening […] Read more
Sask. environmental farm planning options sweetened
Reading Time: 2 minutes A list of beneficial management practices (BMPs) for which Saskatchewan farmers and ranchers can get funding through the federal/provincial Farm Stewardship Program has been expanded. The provincial and federal governments on Wednesday announced five new BMPs and “enhancements” to seven already-eligible BMPs available through the program. Among the new BMPs, for example, are rollers for […] Read more
Que. conciliator to meet with striking Olymel staff
Reading Time: < 1 minute A conciliator with Quebec’s provincial labour ministry is set to meet Friday with striking employees from meat packer Olymel’s Beauce-region hog slaughter plant. The Vallee-Jonction plant’s 940-odd employees represented by CSN (Confederation des syndicats nationaux) walked off the job on March 18. Union and company officials have been in talks with the provincial conciliator, Jean […] Read more
Manitoba lifts fertilizing ban early
Reading Time: < 1 minute Manitoba farmers are cleared to apply spring fertilizer and manure on their fields, now that the ban which was supposed to last for another week and a half has been lifted. Soil temperatures across the province have risen to the point that the restriction — otherwise in effect each year between Nov. 10 and the following […] Read more
Mosaic bracing for royalty hit from Sask. potash policy
Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. fertilizer firm Mosaic Co. expects Saskatchewan’s new changes to its potash royalty structure to cost the company up to an extra US$100 million in 2015. Minnesota-based Mosaic said Monday its “expected impact” from Saskatchewan’s retroactive move in its 2015 budget will increase the company’s 2015 pre-tax payments by $80 million to $100 million (all […] Read more
Ont. poultry packer back under hidden-camera spotlight
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s biggest poultry processor is back under animal welfare activists’ scrutiny with hidden-camera footage alleging more mishandling of birds at one of its packing plants. Maple Lodge Farms, which in September 2013 was convicted under the federal Health of Animals Act over birds’ exposure to cold weather during transport, said Saturday it’s paying “prompt attention” […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
