WSGA wants investigation into XL beef recall

The Western Stock Growers’ Association (WSGA) has respectfully asked the Government of Canada to launch an independent investigation into the crisis surrounding the closing and long process to reopen the XL beef plant in Brooks. Recently, producers at the Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) zone meeting in Fort MacLeod supported a motion to call for an


Common errors in handling vaccines

In order to achieve the maximum benefit out of vaccines or antibiotics this fall they must be handled properly right up to the time they are administered. You as producers pay good money for these products and the pharmaceutical companies want to ensure you get the maximum benefit. Vaccine failures are not desirable in anyone’s

After beef’s biggest recall: What’s next?

The reopening of the XL beef plant at Brooks is not the end of troubles for the Canadian beef industry

The past two months have seen considerable turmoil in Alberta’s beef sector because of the XL beef recall. Although there has been some relief with the JBS takeover there could still be a long way to go. Canada’s beef sector has been influenced by a number of factors:  Grass. Western Canada’s cow-calf sector grew because


Think-tank report boosts farmers’ green credentials

KAP president says this year’s combination of flooding and water scarcity shows it’s time for “a rethink”

Manitoba farm groups are lauding a report from a leading think-tank that backs the idea of rewarding farmers for their role in protecting the environment. The report from the non-partisan Macdonald-Laurier Institute is further evidence “that incentive programs like ecological goods and services are going to be much more effective at meeting society’s objectives than



JBS to open six new slaughterhouses in Brazil

sao paulo / reuters / Brazil’s JBS SA, the world’s biggest integrated meat producer, will open six new slaughterhouses that will increase beef production capacity in the coming months in Brazil by 15 per cent. The new plants will add processing capacity of 1.2 million head of cattle by July 2013, and eventually up to

Beef industry still seeking approval to irradiate ground beef

Canadian cattle producers sought Health Canada approval to irradiate 
ground beef more than 10 years ago. They are still waiting.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association once thought it would be just a matter of time before Canadian food companies would get the green light to start irradiating ground beef. That was a decade ago, when the CCA submitted a petition to Health Canada seeking regulatory approval for use of irradiation as another tool to reduce pathogens


Free hunting offered near Riding Mountain to beat TB

It’s not quite an all-you-can-shoot buffet, but a limited number of free deer hunting licences and an extended season are the latest tools being used in the ongoing effort to eradicate bovine tuberculosis near Riding Mountain National Park. So far, 140 free deer harvest tags have been handed out by Manitoba Conservation covering the special

Teamwork pays off in increased agri-food exports and market access

Canada is the world’s sixth-largest exporter of agriculture and food products with sales of more than $40 billion

Canada has enjoyed considerable success in boosting agri-food exports thanks to close collaboration among governments and industry groups, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. Ritz credited the Federal Market Access Team at Agriculture Canada and Agri-Food, which co-ordinates the Canadian approach to finding more buyers for food products. The department’s latest market access report highlights improved