Major and possibly expensive changes lie ahead for Manitoba hog producers as the result of a new road map for the industry’s future. The Manitoba Pork Council plan released last week commits the province’s 700 pork producers to eliminating sow gestation stalls within the next 15 years. “Manitoba Pork commits to encouraging producers to phase
Hog Industry Announces New Sustainability Commitments
Japan Disaster Unlikely To Limit Food Imports
The disaster in Japan may not curtail its imports of agricultural commodities and could even increase them over time, a Canadian Wheat Board official said. Once Japan begins to recover from the effects of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown, Japanese consumers may become more accepting of food imports, said Neil Townsend, a CWB market
Hog Producers Ring Alarm Over Possible Feed Shortages
North America’s pork producers have issued a dire warning about a looming continental feed grain shortage that may jeopardize meat supplies and animal welfare in the coming year. Leaders of the Canadian Pork Council, the U.S. National Pork Producers Council and the Confederacion de Porcicultores Mexicanos last week issued an urgent call for government action
Health Canada Advertisement Called Anti-Honey
A Health Canada advertisement telling parents not to feed honey to infants has produced a swarm of protest from the nation’s beekeepers. The controversial ad features a bottle of honey with a happy bear face. On the bottle is a red circle with a diagonal line through it. A caption reads: “Do you know that
Farmers Worry About Budget Cuts To Agriculture
Prairie farm organizations fear major cuts to agriculture spending in the upcoming federal budget. A projected $418.6-million decrease in net Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada spending for the coming year has farm groups worried the March 22 budget will contain bad news for western Canadian farmers. “It’s the wrong time to be backing away from agriculture
Appeal Court Upholds Cheese Standards Regulation
Say cheese. Canada’s dairy farmers and Ottawa are both smiling after a federal Appeal Court upheld regulations requiring cheese to be made from fluid milk and not other milk products. “We are pleased that the Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the authority of the federal government to set compositional standards,” Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz
Pullet Growers Seek Separate National Agency
Canada’s supply management industry could have a new member if efforts by pullet growers to form a national marketing agency succeed. Pullet farmers are asking the Farm Products Council of Canada to grant them Part 2 Agency status under the Farm Products Agencies Act. The move, if granted, would recognize pullets as a separate sector
Canada’s Pulse Exports To China Set To Rise
Canada’s pulse exports to China could take a big jump, following that country’s recent elimination of a major trade barrier to peas and other legume crops. China announced last week it had removed the maximum limit for selenium in imported food, a restriction that hampered sales of Canadian dry field peas to the Asian country.
Ontario Gets ALUS Funding, Manitoba Doesn’t
Ontario is getting money for Alternative Land Use Services projects while Manitoba, where the idea for the program originated, is not. An ALUS project in Ontario’s Norfolk Country recently received $1.5 million to help farmers carry out environmentally sound practices on their land. Meanwhile in Manitoba, ALUS remains stalled after its lone pilot project ended
Grasshopper Threat Low In Manitoba This Year
Last year’s cool, wet summer handed Manitoba farmers one benefit: a low probability of high grasshopper counts this year. MAFRI’s 2011 grasshopper forecast map shows only a few areas of the province where grasshopper egg counts even register on the scale. Those areas include the Red River Valley, the northwest region around Dauphin and a
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