Reading Time: 2 minutes Hoping to improve its odds against African swine fever ever getting a toehold in Canada’s hog herds, Ontario plans to regulate Eurasian wild boar as an invasive species starting in the new year. To that end, the province is making funding available to farmers who actively breed and raise wild boar to “shift to other […] Read more
Ontario moves to phase out wild boar farming
Province, feds fund swine fever defense plans
U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures rise on support from fewer cattle placements
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose on Monday, as the market continued to be bolstered by a government report showing fewer cattle placements than expected, traders said. The USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report, released after the market close on Friday, showed September cattle placements at 97% year-over-year, beneath trade estimates […] Read more
U.S. surgeons successfully test pig kidney transplant in human patient
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — For the first time, a pig kidney has been transplanted into a human without triggering immediate rejection by the recipient’s immune system, a potentially major advance that could eventually help alleviate a dire shortage of human organs for transplant. The procedure done at NYU Langone Health in New York City […] Read more
Olymel CEO dies of ‘sudden’ cancer
Rejean Nadeau died Thursday at 71
Reading Time: 2 minutes The CEO of Canadian pork and poultry packer Olymel has died of a “sudden and virulent cancer” at age 71, his company reported Friday morning. Rejean Nadeau, the CEO of Sollio Co-operative’s meatpacking and processing arm since 1996, died Thursday at his home at Rougemont, Que., about 25 km south of St-Hyacinthe, Olymel said in […] Read more
U.S. considers faster hog slaughter paces based on staffing
Faster speeds seen as increasing injuries
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The Biden administration is considering a proposal that could allow some pork plants to slaughter pigs more quickly if they boost staffing, a union official said, after a U.S. court struck down a Trump-era rule that removed line speed limits. The proposal put forward by Quality Pork Processors, operator of a […] Read more
Expansions boost Maple Leaf plant’s bacon offerings
Pre-cooked bacon capability sets up Winnipeg plant as 'bacon centre of excellence'
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Winnipeg pork further-processing plant previously earmarked as Maple Leaf Foods’ “ham centre of excellence” now gets the same billing for bacon. The major Toronto meat processor announced Tuesday it had completed a $182 million, 73,000-square foot expansion at its Lagimodiere Boulevard prepared meats plant, to “significantly” increase its bacon production capacity. The expansion, Maple […] Read more
Britain facing mass cull of pigs due to butcher shortage
Reading Time: 2 minutes 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
U.S. puts up funds to prevent African swine fever
Haiti, Dominican Republic now 'countries of concern' on CFIA list
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday pledged up to US$500 million to prevent the spread of the fatal pig virus African swine fever, after Haiti and the Dominican Republic recently confirmed outbreaks. A U.S. outbreak would likely slash U.S. pork exports and pig prices, hurting farmers and meat companies such […] Read more
Olymel to close former F. Menard bacon plant
Pork further-processing plant at Henryville to shut in November
Reading Time: < 1 minute Meat packer Olymel plans to shut a pork further-processing plant it operates in Quebec’s Monteregie by mid-November and pick up the work at its other sites. Olymel, the meats arm of Sollio Co-operative, said Wednesday it will permanently close the bacon plant at Henryville, about 60 km southeast of Montreal, effective Nov. 12. The closure […] Read more
Upgraded Olymel hog plant’s second shift begins
Ange-Gardien plant's slaughter pace to rise by up to 40 per cent
Reading Time: 2 minutes A promised second shift is now up and running at a major hog plant in Quebec’s Monteregie and is expected to eventually boost the plant’s weekly slaughter capacity by up to 40 per cent. Plans for a second shift at Olymel’s packing plant at Ange-Gardien, about 50 km east of Montreal, have been in the […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
