“(The intent is) an outcome-based process where the standard is set by the quality of product.” – ALLAN PRESTON, MAFRI Along-standing promise to loosen up interprovincial trade may finally come true for provincially licensed livestock slaughter plants. Canada’s agriculture ministers have approved pilot projects to see how provincial plants can sell meat to other provinces
Provincial Abattoirs May Get Freer Trade
Manitoba Goes It Alone On Alternative Hen Housing
“We would have liked to have more consultation.” – LAURENT SOULIGNY, EFC Egg Farmers of Canada will let Manitoba go its own way on requiring larger cages for layer hens while still working toward a national policy on alternative housing. EFC appears resigned to Manitoba’s recent policy requiring new layer operations to use alternative housing
Fda Advises Against Drugs In Livestock Feed
An American health regulator has moved a step closer toward recommending a ban on the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock feed. The U. S. Food and Drug Agency last week issued a “draft guidance” to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance in veterinary drugs used in raising food-producing animals. The document, released for public
Forage Council Seeks Funding For Industry Strategy
“We are going to need a reliable source of funding.” – WAYNE DIGBY, MFC The Manitoba Forage Council is requesting government assistance to implement an ambitious strategy for developing the province’s forage and grassland industry. The MFC is negotiating with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives for an annual grant to fund research, extension services
Flooding Puts Hay Crop At Risk
It’s mid-June and cattle should be grazing contentedly on Stuart Melnychuk’s lush green pasture. But there’s not a cow in sight. The reason becomes obvious when Melnychuk swings open the gate and walks into the grass. Very soon he’s a foot deep in water. Heavy rains have flooded hayfields on the farm Melnychuk operates with
Harry Enns Called A Consummate Politician
“He understood the art of the possible.” – JIM DOWNEY It was 1996 and the Progressive Conservative government had just removed the central desk sales monopoly from the Manitoba Hog Producers Marketing Board. Hog farmers at a producer meeting in Selkirk were on their feet screaming abuse at Agriculture Minister Harry Enns, who engineered the
Feed-Rite Closes Two Mills In Manitoba
“It’s definitely going to impact us.” – JAKE GOERTZEN, MANITOU MAYOR Alarge Canadian livestock feed company is closing two of its five operations in Manitoba, partly because of the downturn in the hog industry. Feed-Rite will shut down feed mills in Manitou and Arborg at the end of July, throwing approximately 30 employees out of
U. S. Court Relaxes Limits On Roundup Ready Alfalfa
“We’re waiting to hear what they’re going to decide.” – TRISH JORDAN, MONSANTO CANADA Both sides are claiming victory after the U. S. Supreme Court last week overturned a lower court ruling which imposed a ban on Roundup Ready alfalfa. The court ruled a district court judge in San Francisco overstepped his authority in preventing
Hogs Neglected, Barn Destroyed Near Notre Dame
An air of mystery hangs over a small southern Manitoba community following the deaths of hundreds of pigs and a fire which later destroyed their barn. Provincial authorities are investigating a case of animal neglect in which approximately 2,200 feeder hogs were found starving in a barn near Notre Dame de Lourdes. About 400 pigs
Supply Management Needs Overhaul
Supply management needs a major shakeup to let farmers pursue alternative markets for new and different products, a recent report recommends. That would require more flexibility in a marketing system that currently does not accommodate small, independent producers and their specialty products, it says. The report notably does not advocate abolishing supply management. But it