(Lauri Patterson/iStock/Getty Images)

Thanksgiving in a time of bird flu

North America's poultry sector is embroiled in a fall surge of avian influenza, even as turkey demand hits one of its annual peaks

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s the final stretch until Thanksgiving, but anyone hoping to bring their raw bird over the border may be disappointed. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public that raw poultry, including turkey, from restricted areas of the U.S. will not be allowed past the international border due to the ongoing fight with […] Read more

Screengrab of turkeys on display at Canadian Western Agribition in Regina, from a 2017 promotional video. (CWA video screengrab via YouTube)

Saskatchewan, Ontario ban birds at events

Bans back on as fall migratory season underway, avian flu cases stack up

Reading Time: 3 minutes At least two provinces now have bans in place on birds being brought to fall ag fairs and other such events, as cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza pick up again in Canada’s domestic birds. Ontario — which had such a ban in place this spring — reinstated it effective Sept. 23 through to Oct. […] Read more


File photo of chicks on a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Avian flu returns to southwestern Ontario

More cases also turn up in western provinces

Reading Time: 2 minutes Highly pathogenic avian influenza has circled back to Ontario for the first time in four months with an outbreak in a commercial poultry flock in Oxford County. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Friday confirmed the outbreak at a farm in the township of Zorra, about 20 km east of London. Details on the […] Read more

File photo of a plate of tandoori chicken legs. (Paul_Brighton/iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario halal processor to buy poultry packing capacity

Amir Quality Meats taking up Wellington Poultry

Reading Time: < 1 minute An Ontario meat processor specializing in the halal market has a deal in place to boost its capacity by buying a nearby chicken and specialty fowl packer. Amir Quality Meats, which operates a federally registered HACCP-certified boning and cutting plant at Brampton, has an agreement in place to buy the processing plant and “associated supply” […] Read more


Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA’s logo on a tower in Jundiai, northwest of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil, on June 1, 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Paulo Whitaker)

JBS quarterly profit falls almost 10 per cent but tops estimates

Cattle prices 'above the expected level'

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, posted an almost 10 per cent drop in net profits, to US$766 million, driven by the relative weakness of its U.S. beef and pork units in the second quarter, according to an earnings statement on Thursday. Still, it beat analysts’ forecasts. JBS reported a 4.6 […] Read more

A plate of honey dijon glazed chicken wings. (SandersonFarms.com)

Cargill, Continental close U.S. chicken deal

Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — Cargill and Continental Grain said on Friday that they had closed their deal to buy Sanderson Farms, the third largest chicken producer, in a deal worth some US$4.53 billion. Under the deal, which was announced last August, Sanderson is being combined with Continental Grain subsidiary Wayne Farms. Sanderson will cease trading […] Read more


File photo of raw and cooked ground beef. (Lime and Lemon Media photo via Canada Beef Inc.)

Beef sector calls for Health Canada label exception

The Canadian Cattlemen's Association wants ground beef exempted from proposed rules

Reading Time: 2 minutes The cattle sector is less than pleased by a Health Canada proposal that would put a ‘high saturated fat’ label on retail ground beef. The proposal is part of a suite of changes proposed for Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations. As well as adding a front-of-packaging (FOP) label requirement for foods deemed by Health Canada […] Read more

A low-flying bald eagle off the shore of Vancouver Island’s Comox Valley. (SkyF/iStock/Getty Images)

High-path avian flu reaches Vancouver Island

Saskatchewan extends ag fair ban for birds; B.C. restarts lab testing; FCC to offer flexibility

Reading Time: 3 minutes North America’s latest round of highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks has now made its way from one end of Canada clear to the other. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Tuesday confirmed Canada’s westernmost case ever of high-path avian flu in domestic birds, finding an H5N1 virus in a small-scale poultry flock in the Regional […] Read more


File photo of chicks on a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

High-path avian flu reaches Alaska

Canada books more cases in five provinces

Reading Time: 3 minutes U.S. federal animal health officials have confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza in a backyard flock in southern Alaska, showing the extent of current outbreaks’ reach across North America. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said Saturday it had confirmed the presence of high-path avian flu in a “non-poultry” backyard […] Read more

File photo of a rooster in a domestic Canadian flock. (D-Huss/iStock/Getty Images)

Avian flu hits domestic birds in New Brunswick

More cases also booked in Ontario, Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan

Reading Time: 3 minutes Another province in Atlantic Canada has booked its first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic birds this year — this time in a non-commercial flock in southeastern New Brunswick. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it confirmed the presence of high-path avian flu on Monday in a small flock at Turtle Creek, about […] Read more