Video screengrab of Michael Palin (l) and John Cleese in the Cheese Shop sketch on Monty Python’s Flying Circus in 1972.

Saputo to buy British cheesemaker Wensleydale

Canadian dairy firm expands U.K. assets

Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the world’s largest dairy processors is set to expand its reach further into the U.K. with a deal for the maker of Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese. Montreal-based Saputo announced Monday it has an all-cash deal in place to buy Wensleydale Dairy Products Ltd. for 23 million pounds (about C$39.7 million). Pending U.K. regulatory approvals, […] Read more

CME August 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with 100-day moving average (red line) and August 2021 lean hogs (pink open/high/low/close). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle ease as beef demand cools

CME lean hog futures mostly firm

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures dropped for a second day, following U.S. boxed beef prices lower as seasonal demand cools. “You’re still seeing boxed beef pull back, which is normal, seasonally,” said Matthew Wiegand, Risk Management Consultant at FuturesOne. “We’re past the Fourth of July — we don’t have a […] Read more


CME August 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and dark red lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures, boxed beef prices drop

Average hog weights down on week

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures approached a four-week low on Wednesday as U.S. beef prices declined. The drop in futures extended a four per cent setback from a contract high that most-active August live cattle reached last month. Prices for beef shipped to wholesale buyers in large boxes have also […] Read more

On-farm slaughter licences diversify the food system, put more money in the pockets of producers, and have strong support from many consumers, says Blake Hall of Prairie Gold Pastured Meats (seen here) and Ian Griebel of Redtail Farms.

Demand for on-farm slaughter licences soars after rule change

Consumers, and the pandemic, have been key factors with more than 170 licences issued

Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Demand for on-farm slaughter licences in Alberta has exploded since last summer when a rule change allowed consumers to buy individual animals and have them processed on the farm. “The day that the regulation changed, my phone just blew up, and it was largely our customers calling because they were so thrilled,” […] Read more



Jourdyn Sammons.

Moving towards a career with purpose

Discovering an interest in range management has broadened Jourdyn Sammons' educational opportunities

Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – When Jourdyn Sammons joined the University of Saskatchewan’s Range Team in her third year of undergraduate studies, it led to an exciting field of study that’s positively shaped her educational experience.  “We talk about varying topics like ecology and grazing practices and multiple-use relationships, like how people can utilize rangeland for its facilities,” says Sammons, who grew up on a cow-calf and grain farm […] Read more


(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Olymel strike talks delayed to mid-month, union says

Quebec hog plant's workers on strike since late April

Reading Time: 2 minutes A two-months-and-counting strike at a major Quebec hog slaughter and processing plant is expected to continue through to mid-July at the earliest due to scheduling issues, the workers’ union says. The Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction-CSN — which represents over 1,000 striking workers at Olymel’s plant Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec City — […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market calm but firm

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle prices were unchanged. Most auction markets were closed due to Canada Day. It’s been a busy spring period; there is no doubt about it. Pastures are quickly deteriorating under the intense heat and many ranchers will sell yearlings 30-45 days sooner than normal. The good news is […] Read more


Nestle Canada in June 2021 launched Divine, a reduced-calorie line of Haagen-Dazs ice creams, produced at its London, Ont. ice cream plant. (Corporate.nestle.ca)

More upgrades planned for Nestle ice cream plant

Two more production lines to be added

Reading Time: < 1 minute The southwestern Ontario plant supplying Haagen-Dazs, Real Dairy and Drumstick ice cream and Parlour frozen desserts across Canada is set for another $41.3 million expansion, including two new production lines. Nestle Canada said June 23 it expects to break ground in September for a 26,600-square foot expansion of its London, Ont. plant with “additional buildings, […] Read more

Smoke rises from a wildfire over a hill at Kamloops, B.C. on July 1, 2021, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. (Nicole Ritter via Reuters)

B.C. presses for ranchers to register before wildfires hit

Premises ID helps protect livestock in emergencies, province says

Reading Time: 2 minutes British Columbia’s provincial ag ministry hopes to shore up ranchers’ participation in the Premises Identification program against the risk of further wildfires this year. About two-thirds, or 5,200, of B.C.’s non-supply managed livestock producers, and all the supply-managed dairy cattle and poultry premises in the province, are registered in the program, the province said Wednesday. […] Read more