(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Chicken, dairy farmers rip TPP concessions

Reading Time: 3 minutes Updated, Jan. 25, 2018 — Canada’s supply-managed producer groups warn that the new Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade deal stands to chip away unnecessarily at their markets. Chicken Farmers of Canada on Wednesday said the CPTPP deal, on which Canada pledged Tuesday it will sign in March, still includes concessions on market access […] Read more

McDonald’s in 2015 launched a billboard campaign in Canada profiling products made using Canadian meat and potatoes. (Dave Bedard photo)

McDonald’s sets new welfare standards for chicken suppliers

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. will require suppliers to improve the living conditions and slaughter process for chickens raised to be served in its restaurants, the company said on Friday, the latest changes affecting popular menu items such as McNuggets. Under new guidelines for animal welfare, suppliers such as Tyson Foods and Cargill must […] Read more



Photo: Thinkstock

Tyson posts better-than-expected profit, bets on chicken

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters – Tyson Foods Inc reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results on Monday, sending its shares up 5 percent, and said it would ramp up chicken production in the face of record demand from U.S. consumers. Tyson said it spent more money on advertising and marketing for chicken in the third quarter ended on July 1, bringing […] Read more


Single-floor barns will be the easiest to adapt to modular loading of chickens.

Modular chicken loading means processor, farmer investment

Benefits include improved animal welfare and better workplace safety

Reading Time: 4 minutes Ontario will be joining most of the rest of Canada in moving to modular loading of chickens. But the change, mandated by Chicken Farmers of Ontario by 2024, will mean renovations to barns, some major, and investment by processors and transporters. Most chickens in the province are nabbed by chicken catchers in barns and carried to […] Read more

Photo: iStock

Cargill considering bid for JBS’ Pilgrim’s Pride

Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo / Reuters – Global commodities trader Cargill Inc is considering bidding for Pilgrim’s Pride Corp, a U.S.-based chicken processor controlled by scandal-ridden Brazilian group JBS SA, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported on Wednesday. A JBS representative said Pilgrim’s Pride is not for sale. An emailed request for comments from Cargill went […] Read more


From clockwise at left: Riley and Lee-Anne Kemp, Michelle Schram and Troy Stozek, and Wayne and Maria McDonald of Manitoba.

Three farm families, five years later

Country Guide revisits three young Manitoba farm families building their future in agriculture

Reading Time: 2 minutes In 2012, Country Guide discovered a cluster of young farmers near out-of-the-way Cartwright, Man. They were all searching for ways to start small in the heart of big-farm Canada, and they all saw their best chance in a combination of direct marketing and holistic practices. To some readers, it seemed like a dream. To others, […] Read more

“There was no particular time when I realized we were going to be successful,” Wayne says. “We just kept making incremental progress.”

Five years on: Wayne and Maria McDonald

Country Guide revisits the livestock operation of McDonald Farm

Reading Time: 6 minutes Wayne McDonald has never had a job off the farm and admits that he has no idea what nine-to-five is all about. That’s the way he likes it. Now, thanks to some hard work and their very dedicated focus, he and wife Maria have managed to achieve one of the key goals they set themselves […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Tim Hortons parent updates antibiotic policy for chicken

Reading Time: 2 minutes The parent company for the Tim Hortons and Burger King chains has tightened up its pledge to curb the use of antibiotics by its chicken suppliers. Restaurant Brands International on Thursday released its first “Sustainability Report,” outlining its work during 2016 in support of “sustainable practices that promote positive change.” Back in late December, Oakville, […] Read more

(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Tyson to test new method to stun chickens

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods will test a new way to render chickens unconscious before slaughter, the company said Wednesday, in the latest sign that heightened concerns about animal welfare are affecting U.S. meat processors. Within the next year, Tyson, the biggest U.S. chicken company, will launch a pilot program at two processing plants […] Read more