processing Archives - Country Guide

U.S. considers faster hog slaughter paces based on staffing

Faster speeds seen as increasing injuries

By Tom Polansek October 12, 2021

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

File photo of signage outside Maple Leaf Foods’ Lagimodiere Boulevard plant in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Hogs, Livestock

Expansions boost Maple Leaf plant’s bacon offerings

Pre-cooked bacon capability sets up Winnipeg plant as 'bacon centre of excellence'

By Dave Bedard October 8, 2021

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

Screenshot from an Alberta Agriculture video profiling Innisfail-based pulse and grain handler W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions. (Alberta Agriculture and Forestry via YouTube)

Crops, Pulses

Buyers found for five Prairie pulse plants

Approvals sought for W.A. Grain asset sales

By Dave Bedard September 25, 2021

Reading Time: 3 minutes Three separate buyers are poised to take up the Prairie assets of ill-fated W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions, pending an Alberta judge’s approval. An application went Thursday for approval before Justice Corina Dario of Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary, from BDO Canada, the receiver for the Alberta-based grain and pulse handler and processor. […] Read more

An information label is seen on packaging for a CO2 cylinder for a fizzy drinks machine in Manchester, Britain on Sept. 20, 2021. (Photo: Reuters)/Phil Noble)

Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.K. meat industry warns of threat to supplies from CO2 crisis

CO2 shortage is caused by closure of fertilizer plants

By James Davey September 20, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — Some of Britain’s meat processors will run out of carbon dioxide (CO2) within five days, forcing them to halt production and impacting supplies to food retailers, the head of the industry’s lobby group warned on Monday. A jump in gas prices has forced several domestic energy suppliers out of business and […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock

Olymel to close former F. Menard bacon plant

Pork further-processing plant at Henryville to shut in November

By Dave Bedard September 16, 2021

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

Crops, Reuters

Pot producer TerrAscend to buy U.S. rival Gage Growth

Company to pay US$545 million

By Reuters September 1, 2021

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Cannabis producer and processor TerrAscend will buy Michigan-based rival Gage Growth Corp., backed by prominent cannabis investor Jason Wild, for around US$545 million, the pot producer said on Wednesday. Dealmaking in the U.S. cannabis industry has heated up this year as companies bank on Democrats’ promises to reform marijuana laws and potentially legalize […] Read more

(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Hogs, Livestock, Markets

Olymel, Quebec workers reach deal in principle

Agreement may end months-long strike at hog plant

By Dave Bedard August 16, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes The union for workers at a major pork slaughter and packing plant in Quebec’s Beauce region says it has a deal that may end a strike which has backed up hogs on farms in the province since late April. The Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction (STOVJ) — which represents over 1,000 employees at Olymel’s Vallee-Jonction […] Read more

Photo of a Nestle facility. (Nestle via Flickr)

Crops

Nestle to shut Ontario foodservice processing plant

Trenton facility to close in mid-2022

By Dave Bedard July 17, 2021

Reading Time: < 1 minute Global food processing giant Nestle plans to shut a southeastern Ontario plant and move its work to sites in the U.S., citing a “highly competitive” market. The company announced Thursday it will start to wind down work late this year at the Nestle Professional plant at Trenton, where dehydrated dry-blend and frozen products are made […] Read more

The Italgrani USA durum mill at St. Louis, Missouri. (CNW Group/Richardson International)

Cereals, Crops

Richardson to buy major U.S. durum processor

Italgrani's milling, grain handling assets to go to Winnipeg firm

By Dave Bedard July 9, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes Agrifood firm Richardson International is set to expand and further diversify its grain processing space with a deal for what’s billed as North America’s single largest durum flour and semolina miller. The Winnipeg company said Thursday it will buy 100 per cent of the shares in Italgrani USA Inc., whose assets include a mill, elevator […] Read more

Excerpt from a digital rendition of Cargill’s proposed $350 million canola crushing plant proposed for the Regina area. (Image courtesy Cargill)

Canola, Crops, Markets

Cargill to crush canola at Regina

New plant to process up to one million tonnes per year

By Dave Bedard April 23, 2021

Reading Time: 3 minutes The Canadian arm of agrifood giant Cargill plans to further expand its reach in the Prairie canola market with a new crush plant at Regina and upgrades elsewhere. The company announced Thursday it would start construction on the $350 million plant “early next year” and expects to have it operating by early 2024, employing about […] Read more

ICE canola futures’ daily limit expanded to $60

Pulse weekly outlook: Yellow peas selling at a premium

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle down on technical selling, uncertain demand

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