Reading Time: 3 minutes Agrifood giant Cargill is temporarily halting production at its beef processing plant at Guelph, Ont. in the wake of a significant COVID-19 outbreak among employees. The company announced it would “begin the process to temporarily idle” the Dunlop Drive plant effective Thursday (Dec. 17). “This was a difficult decision for our team who are operating […] Read more
Guelph beef plant idled against COVID-19 outbreak
Cattle set-aside plan en route, BFO says
Beef Breeds Council becomes arm of CCA
Cattle genetics body now a division of Canadian Cattlemen's Association
Reading Time: < 1 minute The market development group representing Canada’s beef cattle seedstock sector has formally merged into the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). The association on Friday announced the Canadian Beef Breeds Council (CBBC) has officially joined the Beef Cattle Research Council and Canfax among the divisions of the CCA. The move follows a cost-benefit review by an advisory […] Read more
President’s cattle call finds expected marks in U.S.
Trump suggests killing trade pacts with unnamed cattle-exporting nations
Reading Time: 3 minutes U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks Tuesday about imports of live cattle into the United States resonated predictably among that country’s various cattle producer groups. At a White House event Tuesday, flanked by U.S. farm and ranch leaders and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue for a multi-billion-dollar COVID-19-related farm aid announcement, Trump said he “read yesterday where […] Read more
Farm groups offer finance committee food security for thought
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) continues to pressure the federal government to offer more support for farmers as it looks to mitigate impacts of COVID-19. One of few parliamentary functions continuing to operate in the pandemic, the Commons standing committee on finance is responsible for studying and reporting on matters related to government spending. […] Read more
Beef cattle producers seek new set-aside plan
Cattle groups, Tories call for revival of BSE-era program
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s beef cattle producer groups and federal Conservatives want to see the revival of a BSE-era program to hold cattle back against the risk of further lost options for slaughter. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association on Monday hearkened back to its March 24 list of recommendations to the federal government for support measures against the impacts […] Read more
Cattle producers press for lower price insurance premiums
WLPIP is needed, but unused because premiums too expensive, CCA says
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Western Livestock Price Insurance Program is not functioning properly due to very high premiums and needs to be quickly revamped, says the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. “We’re having unprecedented volatility for markets. Having tools in place for farmers and ranchers has never been more important,” executive vice-president Dennis Laycraft said during a telephone town hall […] Read more
Beef sector mobilizes against supply disruptions
Keeping border open, meeting demand for beef are top priorities
Reading Time: 2 minutes Teams of livestock and government officials are quickly creating plans and policies to keep the sector functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic, says the executive vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. “Our primary objective obviously is to insure there is stable beef production and trade that can continue under the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dennis […] Read more
Cattle producers get longer phase-in on new transport regs
Reading Time: 2 minutes New federal livestock transport regulations, due to come into force in February, will now roll out on a longer timeline for the beef and dairy cattle sectors. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has announced a “two-year transition period” for bovines, which is meant to provide “time to gather more data on effective solutions concerning the […] Read more
Beef sector sees place in UN report’s lower-emission vision
Reading Time: 3 minutes While a new United Nations report on climate change and land calls for “rebalancing diets,” the policy paths it seeks are a good fit for beef cattle ranching as Canadians know it, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association says. Responding Thursday to the report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the CCA said Canada’s […] Read more
Japan now accepting Canadian OTM beef
Reading Time: 2 minutes The last of Japan’s BSE-related restrictions on Canadian beef are lifted as of last Friday, with the Japanese government’s agreement to allow beef from Canadian cattle over 30 months of age (OTMs). Citing industry estimates, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said the added access announced Tuesday could mean an increase of up to 20 per cent […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
