Reading Time: 2 minutes The Ontario Veterinary College has added a dairy animal welfare rotation to its fourth-year curriculum, as part of an increased focus on animal well-being. The rotation is offered through the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph, where research has been conducted on animal welfare for 25 years. Montreal-based […] Read more

New OVC vet rotation focuses on dairy animal welfare

Major dairy farm gets six-figure fines in cruelty case
Reading Time: 3 minutes British Columbia’s largest dairy farm has been slapped with a reported $300,000 in fines after entering guilty pleas to charges of animal cruelty, stemming from covert video shot in 2014. Chilliwack Cattle Sales (CCS) and co-owner Wesley Kooyman were convicted Friday in Provincial Court over violations of the province’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. […] Read more

Saputo profit jumps, dividend raised
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Saputo Inc., one of Canada’s largest dairy producers, reported on Tuesday a 30 per cent jump in net earnings and boosted its quarterly dividend by 11 per cent. For Saputo’s fiscal 2017 first quarter, net income rose to $176.7 million, or 44 cents a share, from $136.4 million, or 34 cents, in the […] Read more

Ottawa weighs options over U.S. milk proteins
Reading Time: 3 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada is working on a plan to shore up its sheltered dairy industry, including measures to counter fast-rising imports of milk proteins from the U.S., according to the federal agriculture minister. Any new support risks widening a trade dispute among North America’s dairy farmers over $150 million worth of U.S. milk […] Read more

Saputo eyes Brazil for acquisitions
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Saputo Inc., one of Canada’s largest dairy producers, has an eye on Brazil for possible acquisitions, and could make deals worth as much as $3.5 billion, its CEO said Thursday. The struggling global dairy industry is fragmented, potentially yielding opportunities, Lino Saputo Jr. said. The company would like to buy cheesemaking plants in […] Read more

Saputo to shut three dairy plants in East
Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec dairy giant Saputo hopes to eventually cut about $7 million in annual costs by closing three dairy plants in Eastern Canada before the end of next year. The Montreal company announced Tuesday it will close the former Scotsburn milk plant at Sydney, N.S. in June, the Fromagerie Madame Chevre specialty cheese plant at Princeville, […] Read more

Agropur eyes further U.S. acquisitions
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canada’s second-biggest dairy, Agropur Co-operative, said it is looking to grow in the U.S., possibly through acquisitions, in the face of an expected erosion of its market share at home due to recent international trade deals. Agropur, whose brands include Iogo yogurt and Oka cheese, and larger rival Saputo have already built U.S. […] Read more

Saputo earnings up with weaker loonie
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Saputo, one of Canada’s largest dairy producers, reported higher than expected adjusted earnings on Thursday, helped by weakness in the Canadian dollar. For its fiscal third quarter, adjusted net income rose 13.5 per cent to $175.4 million, or 44 cents a share. Revenue during the quarter, which ended Dec. 31, rose 2.8 per […] Read more

After the animal abuse video went viral
What’s it like for a Canadian farmer at the centre of an international animal rights media frenzy?
Reading Time: 5 minutes A year and a half later, Jeff Kooyman is still disturbed by a video produced on his farm, Chilliwack Cattle Sales, by the advocacy group Mercy for Animals. Broadcast during prime time on CTV national news on June 2014, the video let the whole world see young workers shouting “f***ing bitch” at cows, kicking one […] Read more

TPP deal to pressure Canadian dairy farmers, Saputo says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian farmers will get squeezed between new trade deals that allow more dairy imports to enter the country and slow-growing domestic consumption, Saputo’s CEO said on Thursday. The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is expected to open access for New Zealand, the U.S. and other countries to 3.5 per cent of the Canadian market, […] Read more