Unionized workers at meat packer Olymel’s hog slaughter and packing plant in Quebec’s Beauce region are heading back to work after voting to accept a new six-year labour deal. Out of about 940 striking workers at the Vallee-Jonction hog plant represented by CSN (Confederation des syndicats nationaux), 816 met Friday at nearby Tring-Jonction and voted
Que. Olymel workers approve deal to end strike
CFIA defends meat inspection staffing, service levels
Shifts in federal meat inspection staffing levels and work priorities are the result of a “risk-based, outcome-based” approach to food safety, not cuts, Canadian Food Inspection Agency brass say. CFIA was responding this week to allegations by its inspectors’ union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s (PSAC) Agriculture Union, that the agency is “quietly unravelling”
CWB’s new laker boat opens St. Lawrence Seaway
The first of CWB’s new laker vessels marked the official opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway for 2015 on Thursday, passing through the South Shore Canal’s St. Lambert Lock near Montreal. The seaway navigation season’s official opening had previously been set for March 27, but officials opted in early March to put off the opening
Manitoba’s last 17 buffalo
Our History: April 1898
The April 1898 issue of the Nor-West Farmer featured a sad item on Manitoba’s last 17 buffalo, which were in a herd at Silver Heights and were about to be shipped to Banff National Park. The herd had been started from calves brought in 30 years earlier. Some of the animals had been intended for
Sask. environmental farm planning options sweetened
A list of beneficial management practices (BMPs) for which Saskatchewan farmers and ranchers can get funding through the federal/provincial Farm Stewardship Program has been expanded. The provincial and federal governments on Wednesday announced five new BMPs and “enhancements” to seven already-eligible BMPs available through the program. Among the new BMPs, for example, are rollers for
Que. conciliator to meet with striking Olymel staff
A conciliator with Quebec’s provincial labour ministry is set to meet Friday with striking employees from meat packer Olymel’s Beauce-region hog slaughter plant. The Vallee-Jonction plant’s 940-odd employees represented by CSN (Confederation des syndicats nationaux) walked off the job on March 18. Union and company officials have been in talks with the provincial conciliator, Jean
Manitoba lifts fertilizing ban early
Manitoba farmers are cleared to apply spring fertilizer and manure on their fields, now that the ban which was supposed to last for another week and a half has been lifted. Soil temperatures across the province have risen to the point that the restriction — otherwise in effect each year between Nov. 10 and the following
Farmers urged to plant certified flaxseed
The Flax Council of Canada says the goal of removing Triffid from the system is getting closer
If seeding flax this spring buy certified seed. That’s the message from the Flax Council of Canada. Certified seed is free of Triffid, the genetically modified flax found in Canadian flax exports in 2009. Even though only trace amounts were found, the contamination disrupted Canadian flax exports to the European Union — one of Canada’s
Mosaic bracing for royalty hit from Sask. potash policy
U.S. fertilizer firm Mosaic Co. expects Saskatchewan’s new changes to its potash royalty structure to cost the company up to an extra US$100 million in 2015. Minnesota-based Mosaic said Monday its “expected impact” from Saskatchewan’s retroactive move in its 2015 budget will increase the company’s 2015 pre-tax payments by $80 million to $100 million (all
Ont. poultry packer back under hidden-camera spotlight
Canada’s biggest poultry processor is back under animal welfare activists’ scrutiny with hidden-camera footage alleging more mishandling of birds at one of its packing plants. Maple Lodge Farms, which in September 2013 was convicted under the federal Health of Animals Act over birds’ exposure to cold weather during transport, said Saturday it’s paying “prompt attention”
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
