Animals rights activists welcomed the ruling that limited some religious rites, but Israel’s ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, Emmanuel Nahshon, called it “a catastrophic decision, a blow to Jewish life in Europe.”

Jewish and Muslim associations had argued that the original decree made in the Belgian region of Flanders in 2017 had effectively outlawed their traditional ways of slaughtering animals.

They said their methods of cutting animals’ throats with a sharp knife resulted in almost immediate death and that, traditionally, prior stunning was not permitted.

The Luxembourg-based court found that the Belgian decree was in line with EU law.

It ruled that requiring stunning before slaughter did limit the ability of believers to exercise their right to manifest their religion.

But the judges found it only limited one aspect of the tradition rather than prohibiting the whole practice, and that this limitation met a general EU objective of promoting animal welfare.

Belgium’s constitutional court, which had asked the EU court to rule on the issue, is now bound by the decision.

Ambassador Nahshon took to Twitter to condemn the ruling, saying: “Apparently tolerance and diversity are empty words in the eyes of some Europeans.”

Belgian Jewish umbrella association CCOJB said it would keep up its legal campaign against the decree.

“The European Union does not protect its religious minorities anymore,” it added. “The Court of Justice of the European Union allows member states to go as far as outlawing religious slaughter in an approved slaughterhouse.”

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This February new transportation regulations are coming and that’s going to change how male dairy calves are marketed and the whole sector will need to talk to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) about a phased transition, a new report recommends.

Prepared by an expert panel for the National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Council under the guidance of David Fraser of the University of British Columbia’s Animal Welfare Program, the report says use of auctions for calves aged eight days or less will not be permitted and animals too young to be fed exclusively on hay or grain will be limited to a single trip not exceeding 12 hours.

“Dairy farms wishing to market calves through auctions may opt to keep calves on the farm until nine days or more, but many farms may currently lack appropriate facilities and skills for raising calves to these older ages,” the report said.

“The new regulations are expected to have some benefits for animal welfare including preventing the shipping of calves with unhealed navels, and long-distance transport and unnecessary commingling of very young calves,” the report said. “However, to meet the regulations without unintended harms to calf health and welfare may require considerable change to infrastructure and skills.

“Alternatively, the new regulations might lead to more on-farm killing of male calves which would likely be resisted by both producers and the public,” it said. “Moreover, if enforcement of the new regulations is focused mostly on auction markets and commercial trucking stations, marketing might be shifted to less regulated sales avenues.”

The report urged the Canadian Veal Association to take the lead in clarifying the marketing processes for male dairy calves in different parts of Canada, and identifying the implications of the new CFIA regulations on the health and welfare of the calves and the sector in general.

Canadian dairy farms produce several hundred thousand male dairy calves each year, most of which are sold to specialist calf or veal producers to be raised for slaughter. Many of the calves are collected from the farm when very young, commingled with animals from other farms and transported considerable distances. The process raises obvious concerns about animal health, animal welfare and farm biosecurity.

The considerable difference in the condition of male calves offered for sale “may reflect differences in attitudes as some dairy farmers value calf health and welfare and provide a high standard of care, while others see male calves as a low-value byproduct that warrants minimal investment,” the report said. “Economics are almost certainly a factor, as the price farmers receive for calves may fall below the cost of keeping them until they are well established. Moreover, many farms – even new ones – are not designed to keep male calves beyond a few days of age and may not have enough staff with the skill and knowledge to raise calves successfully.”

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, the Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians and dairy producer organizations should encourage knowledge transfer to improve the quality of calf care, and explore the use of benchmarking for both male and female calves as a means of motivating improvement and monitoring progress in the industry, the report said.

Among the positive signs are Veal Farmers of Ontario regularly hosts a Healthy Calf Conference and is developing educational tools on calf health management for veterinarians. The Ontario Veterinary College includes a three-day module on calf health and production in its Dairy Health Management Certificate course.

As well, there is an emerging market for preconditioned calves that are vaccinated and weaned and Quebec’s new electronic passport system could be used to record features such as vaccination status that may be useful for calf growers, the report said. Some dairy herd veterinarians include a strong focus on good calf management.

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Both the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Manitoba Beef Producers have accused the federal government of ignoring its own research and argue that the overwhelming majority of cattle arrive from long hauls in good condition.

The beef sector argues that the changes might actually decrease animal welfare.

Why it matters: Anyone shipping livestock will have to be in compliance with new animal health regulations by next year.

Tom Teichroeb, Manitoba Beef Producers president, recently blasted the changes as “asinine.”

“Now you’re challenging what’s working really well and moving the intervals that were previously allowed and not allowing those long-haul trucks to reach that destination,” he said.

The beef industry argues that changes ignore the added stress to animals by repeated loading and unloading at rest stops.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association has argued that new regulations should have awaited the results of ongoing research, and hopes to better measure handling stress from loading and unloading under actual commercial conditions and will be collecting data through 2021.

Manitoba’s beef sector says it is also worried about biosecurity, should animals from multiple loads use the same rest stop on the road.

“Now they’re going to be unloaded on foreign ground where you might have other cattle that might have disease or other health concerns that you might now pick up,” Teichroeb said.

Teichroeb expects wet-nosed calves bound for Ontario to present the largest problems for the Manitoba sector. The provincial beef group argues that those animals must get to their destination, and their new feed and watering routine, as quickly as possible to minimize stress.

The beef sector, likewise, is less than impressed by the promise of additional cost as truckers rack up extra hours on the road and the need for additional record-keeping as cattle movements become more complicated.

“We already know that the cattle get there healthy, so that’s not a concern of ours. The concern of ours is that this is a huge interruption, not just in the health component, but also in the commerce component,” Teichroeb said.

More rests

Animals will have to be rested, fed and watered more often and for longer under the changed Health of Animals Regulations, published in late February.

The beef and pork industries will see shortened intervals — down from 48 hours to 36 hours for cattle, and a drop from 36 hours to 28 for pigs. Unweaned calves will also spend less time on the road. Shippers must give food, rest and water every 12 hours if a young ruminant can’t be exclusively fed on hay or grain, down from 18.

Broiler chickens, laying hens and rabbits can be on the road for a day before they must be watered, and 28 hours before being given food and rest, compared to old regulations that mandated a stop every 36 hours.

Livestock must then be given at least eight hours before setting foot back in a trailer, up from five hours under old rules.

The CFIA defines “rest” as enough room for animals to lie down without lying on each other, and enough ventilation and, “protection from meteorological or environmental conditions that could lead to suffering, injury or death,” according to the changed regulations.

Animals do not necessarily have to be unloaded at a rest stop, the government has said, but the space within those trailers must have ready food and water and meet the area requirements for rest.

“The overall objective is that animals arrive at their destination safely, and are suitably fed, hydrated and rested,” a government release said.

The federal government argues the changes are a much-needed upgrade to regulations put in place, “at a time when there was little research or information pertaining to the effects or risks of transportation on the well-being of animals.”

The CFIA estimates that about two per cent of transports do not meet with current regulations and that 1.59 million transported animals are reported dead on arrival every year.

“Given the strong public support for preventing the suffering of animals, and the risk to human and animal health, this must be addressed,” a backgrounder published in the February version of the Canada Gazette read.

The CFIA argues that the changes will improve consumer confidence and bolster Canada’s trade status by aligning with international standard, as well as help improve animal welfare.

Likewise, it argues, expanded definitions of “unfit” or “compromised” animals will help clarify transport requirements.

Little impact

New regulations are expected to make little difference to Manitoba’s pig and chicken producers.

Both industries are largely integrated within the province, and it is unlikely that anyone shipping pigs or chickens in Manitoba will run up against those rest interval limits.

Wayne Hiltz, executive director of the Manitoba Chicken Producers, says the shortened intervals are a “non-issue” for the Manitoba chicken sector, since many producers are within an hour of a processing facility.

“We don’t see some of the extended shipping times that some other provinces might experience because they’re a little more spread out,” he said.

The most far-flung chicken producers may only be on the road for three hours, Hiltz said.

The Manitoba Chicken Producers has thrown its support behind the regulatory review of transport rules.

“Certainly, the health and well-being of our birds is critical to the whole industry, absolutely — all stages of the journey from gate to plate, absolutely,” Hiltz said.

There is equally little concern from the pork industry, with major slaughter and processing facilities such as Hylife Foods in Neepawa and Maple Leaf Foods in Brandon both well within the new transport intervals set out by the CFIA.

“There just isn’t going to be a big impact from that for us,” Mark Fynn, Manitoba Pork Council manager of quality assurance and animal care programs, said. “Where there could have been an impact, I guess, would have been international shipments, but really, all of our markets are within that time frame, so I just don’t see that being an issue for us at all.”

The sector will, however, have to invest in training staff to ensure that loading procedures are in compliance with the new animal welfare standards, he added.

Room to change

The livestock sector may dodge feed, rest and watering intervals in the future if trailers and containers change, according to the CFIA.

New regulations would not apply to trailers that, among other things, are equipped with forced ventilation and dispensing systems to provide feed and water to each animal. For animals in containers, like chickens, those containers would have to be designed so that animals in the containers would have the same benefits as if they were free inside the trailer.

The federal government says it has left that loophole open to promote innovation.

The CFIA has given the livestock sector the next year to prepare for the changes. New regulations will come into effect in February 2020.

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They’re closely scrutinizing Nathaniel Erskine-Smith’s private member’s bill because of its potential to sideswipe livestock farming.

The Beaches-East York MP has also been told by Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief and current MP and parliamentary secretary for justice, that changes are needed to the bill to protect farmers, hunters and anglers.

“Canadians who enjoy hunting or fishing, or raise animals to be slaughtered for food are deeply concerned that these practices could be captured by these new offences, notwithstanding my friend’s reassurance,” Blair said in the Commons May 9, during second reading on the bill.

“Given the strong concerns that were expressed when a similar bill was debated, I think it would be most appropriate to broadly consult with Canadians across the country before pushing forward with any legislative amendments,” he added.

Criminal liability

While the bill is aimed at truly egregious abuse including shark finning and animal fighting, “a number of the proposed changes will drastically increase the likelihood of farmers facing criminal liability related to animal welfare,” says a briefing note prepared by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

“The current Criminal Code already accounts for intentional animal cruelty and the amendments proposed by C-246 do not improve the law in this respect nor does it include an exemption for generally accepted farming practices.”

Spokesmen for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and the Canadian Pork Council say the bill ignores all the work done by the National Farm Animal Care Council to develop livestock codes of practices for farmers. They spell out the humane animal treatment that must be practised in raising animals.

Erskine-Smith’s bill is expected to come up for debate again in the fall. Private member’s bills rarely become law. Blair said the bill may be overtaken by a government review of the Criminal Code.

Despite his support for tackling animal abuse, he criticized the bill for a lack of exemptions for specific legal activities such as ranching, hunting, fishing, trapping, and medical research.

“The bill may inadvertently create a conflict of law, making existing legally regulated activities illegal by the very nature of their existence,” Blair said.

“I believe that most Canadians would agree that animals deserve our protection apart from any property interests that may be attached to them. I am certainly not disagreeing with the need for strong legislative action to protect animals.”

Linkages

Blair added studies have confirmed that a person who abuses animals is much more likely to begin doing the same to people, and there is also research linking animal abusers to increased incidence of domestic violence.

“Animal cruelty is an important social issue that deserves a comprehensive legislative response,” Blair said. “It needs broad public consultation to allow us to get this right. The best way forward is in the review of the Criminal Code that will take place in the future.”

He said that while the bill has received applause for its proposal to outlaw shark finning, that the practice “is already banned in Canada through licensing conditions administered under the Fishery Relations, and any violation of shark harvesting licensing conditions is a chargeable offence under the Fisheries Act. As such, the proposed amendment to the regulations may create some confusion or redundancy.”

John Masswohl, director of government and international relations with the CCA, said from discussions with Erskine-Smith, it seems he is anti-farming but didn’t understand the protection provisions already in place.

Gary Story of the Pork Council said there are farm practices such as euthanasia of sick animals that could be misconstrued by outsiders.

Several Conservative MPs warned that while they understood the MP’s motives for bringing in the bill, they would vote against it because of the threat it posed to their rural constituents.

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McDonald’s Canada, Beefbooster, and BIXSco — the company now running the Beef InfoXchange System — recently collaborated with Livestock Gentec to analyze two million records of carcass data. The analysis found calves sired by Beefbooster Terminal Cross bulls were worth $219 more than the average value of calves processed by packing plants from 2012 to 2014.

The Calgary company has been using production data since 1970 to breed superior bulls, but this data gave it an exact dollar figure on the quality of carcasses of cattle sired by its bulls versus average cattle.

“We can take carcass information and say that there’s value between the different breeds and the different bulls,” said Jennifer Stewart-Smith, chief executive officer of Beefbooster.

“You will know whether your cattle are grading or yielding well, just by looking at (the data). If you wanted to dive deeper into it, then you could start making breeding decisions based on that information, if you wanted to refine the animals that are producing more of those types of carcasses for you.

“The more information you have on how well your cattle do, the more that adds to you being able to make better decisions.”

However, there is a major hitch — as it stands right now, cow-calf producers don’t get paid more for producing cattle that grade higher.

“That’s always going to be a problem,” said Stewart-Smith. “That’s part of the reason they don’t want you to know anything. Their model is based on us (cow-calf producers) not knowing how well the cattle are doing.

“Now that we know and this is out there, and we know the potential of the cattle that are making more money, there’s a better chance of being able to get more money. But right now, they’re not paying us for that, not at all.”

Information gaps

However, packers have been limited by a lack of data, too. They know which cattle are more valuable, but they wouldn’t normally know who raised them.

“And the producer certainly didn’t know that there is that value on his/her carcasses because we really haven’t had that carcass information to analyze,” noted Stewart-Smith.

Another gap is that feedlots are not putting any data into BIXS yet. Data quality was another issue. Because the two million records entered into the Canadian Livestock Tracking System for a federally sponsored project in 2012-14 didn’t have the birthdates of the animals, BIXSco had to mine its data to find birthdates. It found them for 127,000 animals, so the sample size was relatively small.

Although not definitive, this study will be a stepping stone to other projects of this nature.

“This is a very, very first step,” said Stewart-Smith. “But it does prove that yes, the information is valuable, can be shared, and can be used by producers to make better decisions in their herds.”

The analysis also produced two other significant findings.

Verified

One is that calves slaughtered before 19 months of age — versus those slaughtered at 24 months — had higher-value carcasses. And if they are slaughtered at 18 months instead of 24 months, 1.2 fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide are generated per head.

The analysis was co-funded by the Alberta Livestock Meat Agency and McDonald’s as part of the latter’s verified sustainable beef pilot project. The goal was to evaluate the usefulness of sharing data across the beef industry. The study shows a robust database “has the potential to increase the economic viability, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability of the entire Canadian beef community,” said Jeffrey Fitzpatrick-Stilwell, McDonald’s Canada’s senior manager of sustainability.

The carcass valuation was done using a grid employed by Cargill at its High River plant that captures weight, quality, and yield grades. More details of the data can be found in the report — go to www.mcdvsb.com, click on the News tab, and then scroll down to find a link to the report.

This article was originally published in the Alberta Farmer Express.

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This increase of non-fed slaughter does not bode well for the future as it means there are going to be fewer breeding cows in the national herd. No amount of heifer retention in the near future can make up for the reduction in the size of the cow herd that has recently occurred. It will take time to rebuild the number of breeding animals. The Canadian Beef Grading Agency (CBGA) will have to manage its budget closely to avoid operating at a deficit as a result of further reduced grading volumes in 2014.

There were no changes to the delivery of grading in 2013, either regulatory or technological. JBS Foods Canada in Brooks continues to be the only plant in Canada using technology to facilitate official grade assessment. The Canadian regulated yield grades remain at three without any indication that there will be an official regulatory adjustment to the five U.S. yield classes.

However, hope for more flexible, responsive grade standards remains intact.

Thanks to funding from the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan and the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program, the CBGA has been able to continue efforts to modernize the Canadian Carcass Grading Regulations. Ongoing consultation with industry and the CFIA has produced positive industry and government buy-in into the concept of an industry-managed grade standard. Unfortunately progress is coming at a snail’s pace.

The CFIA was scheduled to have a paper on the Incorporation by Reference of documents in the new Food Safety Act by November 2013, but this document has not been officially circulated at the time of writing.

From the Canadian Cattlemen website: Beef demand looking forward

The proposal from industry via the CBGA is that a new Livestock Standards Authority be established by industry to review and maintain the Canadian Carcass Grade Standards as a document “incorporated by reference.” This would provide enforcement, credibility, and responsiveness to industry developments in science, technology, and markets — as opposed to a government standards document that would require regulatory reform, which is a very time-consuming process.

The new timelines for modernization of the regulations by CFIA include a spring 2014 deadline for the first publication of modernized regulations, followed by a comment period throughout the summer and fall of 2014, and then a final publication in the spring of 2015.

Behind the scenes, thanks to funding and support from Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency Strategic Initiatives and Beef Cattle Research Council, the project for “Measuring the Canadian Beef Advantage” continues. Carcasses are moving through the testing protocol to determine whether or not dual X-ray technology can predict carcass yield without the costly process of dissection to lean, fat, and bone. Initial results look promising, but science requires thorough and conclusive evidence of the value of this process before releasing results. The project will conclude in 2015.

No update on beef carcass grading would be complete without some mention of the U.S. country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law. Despite the loss of competitive bids from U.S. packers, the CBGA looks upon COOL as an opportunity to slaughter and grade more beef in Canada. With three Canadian packing plants of medium size scheduled to reopen in 2014, the retention of these slaughter cattle could have an influence on their viability.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and don’t necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Canadian Beef Grading Agency.

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Canada hopes to win greater access for its beef and pork in Europe, while the EU wants a foothold in Canada’s protected agriculture sectors, especially dairy.

Talks on a comprehensive deal are expected to finish this year, but one outstanding issue is on rules of origin, said Frederic Seppey, chief negotiator for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

The issue is whether the EU will give preferential access to all meat processed in Canada, given the strong integration of the North American livestock market. Canadian and U.S. farmers freely move livestock across the border to take advantage of the lowest feeding costs and highest slaughter prices.

The EU has not agreed that all meat slaughtered and processed in Canada is considered of Canadian origin. It takes into consideration where the livestock was born and raised.

Canada’s position is that slaughtering and cutting up a cow or pig is a significant enough step that the end product should be recognized as Canadian, even if the animal was born or fattened to market weight in the United States, Seppey said.

“We don’t want beef that has been processed in Canada and perhaps is from cattle that were born in Canada but fed in the U.S. to be prevented from getting the potential preferential treatment,” Seppey told reporters on the sidelines of the Canada Grains Council meeting in Winnipeg. “In our trade agreements we are always advocating that slaughter is enough of a transformation to confer origin.”

European Union negotiators are hesitant to concede the point, because Canadian slaughter plants import livestock from the United States, as well as buying domestically. The issue would likely disappear once the United States and EU negotiate their own trade deal, but those talks are just beginning, nearly four years behind Canada-EU negotiations.

“We are within reach of an agreement, the final stages. It would be such a shame to not conclude,” Seppey said, adding that he expects the two sides to eventually find a solution on the livestock origin issue.

Other outstanding issues include access for pharmaceuticals and automobiles, he said.

Canada is the third-biggest pork shipper after the United States and European Union, and also the No. 6 exporter of beef and veal. European Union countries are collectively the world’s third-biggest beef and veal producer and the second-largest pork producer.

Canada is seeking to diversify its trade away from the United States, which currently takes 75 per cent of all Canadian exports, and the EU just over 10 per cent. Under an FTA, Canada-EU trade could increase by 20 per cent, Canada has said.

Total trade of agriculture and food products between Canada and the EU currently amounts to about $6.6 billion annually.

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“It’s a big fight,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. “We will sue if we have to. We’re also working with Congress to stop this.”

Congress lifted a 2006 ban in the fiscal 2012 appropriations act and since then “several” companies have asked for government inspections that would allow them to start slaughtering horses, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Without new action by Congress, the department has no choice but to allow slaughterhouse inspections to proceed, USDA said. Though horsemeat cannot be sold in the United States for human consumption, it could be exported.

Indeed, USDA notified Valley Meat Co. of Roswell, New Mexico, this week that the company’s application for inspections would be approved after an extended delay, according to Valley Meat owner Ricardo De Los Santos.

Valley Meat filed suit against the USDA for delaying the process after it shut down beef operations and retrofitted its plant to allow for horse slaughter, said De Los Santos.

The company slaughtered cattle for two decades but closed that business down as drought and poor market conditions eroded profits, said De Los Santos. With roughly 130,000 horses currently estimated to be shipped out of the United States annually to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico, horse slaughtering seems like a viable market, he said.

“We’ve always killed cows. But business has slowed down and we’re looking at things we can do to keep operating,” De Los Santos told Reuters.

The last U.S. plants to slaughter horses for human consumption were shut in 2007, after Congress banned the USDA from funding the required inspections of the plants. That measure was renewed every year until 2011.

Horse meat is sold for human consumption in China, Russia, Mexico and other foreign countries, and is sometimes used as feed for zoo animals.

A scandal continues to roll in Europe after testing in Ireland in January found that some products marketed as beef contained equine DNA.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Front Range Equine Rescue, and Animal Protection of New Mexico joined the Humane Society in saying they would try to beat back the decision to process inspection applications for horse slaughter.

USDA faced criticism in 2012 when plans were announced for a horse slaughter plant in Rockville, Missouri. Those plans have been put on hold.

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After three years of preparation, work has started on a $13-million expansion at Plains Processors, a small processing plant with a capacity of 80 head per week located between Carman and Elm Creek. Vaags purchased the plant in 2008.

The revamped facility is expected to employ 80 workers and provide export-certified processing to the province’s cattle industry as well as to producers of other ruminant species.

“We haven’t done sheep on a large scale yet, but if I look into the future, I see the sheep industry in Manitoba really growing and again, no place for them to process locally and they have a huge freight bill going east,” Vaags said in an interview as his investors and elected officials from three levels of government gathered at the site Jan. 26 to wish him well.

“We think we can probably fit into that market as well. Our plan is to not close doors on anything,” he said. “We are building this plant as a multi-species plant.”

Vaags, who operates a grain farm and cattle feedlot near Oakbank, entered the retail beef business when he opened the Carver’s Knife outlet in Winnipeg in 2004. He later expanded to a second retail outlet and started supplying Manitoba beef by wholesale. He said he’s been working on achieving federally inspected status for Plains Processors for the past three years.

Vaags acknowledged his isn’t the first attempt to bring federally inspected slaughter capacity back to the province in the wake of the 2003 BSE crisis, which disrupted export access for live cattle for years.

Despite provincial government backing, a producer co-op was unsuccessful in starting a cow slaughter facility near Dauphin. Another proposal, also backed by the province’s Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council, was to rehabilitate a mothballed hog slaughter facility in Winnipeg. It has been in limbo since the federal government withdrew $10 million it promised the project in 2009.

Appropriate size

Vaags said there are several elements of his project — scale, location and private-sector investment — that give it a better chance of success.

“The type of plant that we plan here hits a sweet spot,” he said.

“I’ve said from Day 1 we need a plant but we need to be careful how we do it. You can’t go too big because you have to learn to walk before you can run. If you are too small the mechanics and economies of scale don’t work.

“The point here is to really do it on a shoestring and get it up and running and make a business that is really mean and lean and get going from there,” Vaags said.

The project is an expansion of a plant that’s been in operation since the early 1950s at a site that is centrally located in a rural area “where the community is welcoming to it,” Vaags said, noting Winnipeg-based slaughter proposals are a harder sell with surrounding residents.

As well, nearly half of the company’s financial resources are coming from private investors in addition to federal and provincial support and commercial borrowings, he said. “There is actually five different financial components putting this together,” he said.

While Candace Bergen, MP for Portage-Lisgar, and Manitoba’s minister of agriculture, food and rural initiatives Ron Kostyshyn attended the pseudo-sod turning, neither disclosed the level of support their governments are offering.

Vaags said the final details are still being ironed out, but commitments have been made.

The federal government announced in March 2011, it is committing $2.8 million in repayable contributions to the project through the Slaughter Improvement Program. The Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council (MCEC) gave a conditional approval of $920,000 to the project in 2011.

Kostyshyn confirmed talks between Vaags and the province are “in the final stages.”

He said freight costs alone should be enough to make a local facility attractive to Manitoba producers. “There will potentially be a cost saving to producers who are finishing animals in Manitoba,” he said.

Manitoba Beef Producers president Ray Armbruster said his organization welcomes the addition. “We like this initiative with some private initiative and investment, and we support it going forward in that way,” he said.

Armbruster said the scale of the facility won’t be attractive to a 20,000-head feedlot but it will give cow-calf producers or small-lot finishers another option for adding value to their cattle.

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“It sounds as though it’s going to improve,” the Neepawa-area producer said while attending a session on sheep marketing at Ag Days.

“But for someone like me just getting into it, it wasn’t a bad thing, because when I was buying the prices were down.”

Sheep are still a good way of diversifying farm income, even if prices have fallen from peaks reached in 2011, the provincial sheep specialist told farmers attending Ag Days.

“There is a lot of scare in the industry,… but the industry is not dying,” Mamoon Rashid said during his Ag Days presentation at the Brandon Keystone Centre.

Lamb reached prices as high as $2.50 a pound in 2011, but is currently selling for about $1.30 or $1.35 in major markets like Ontario.

“Manitoba is always about 20 cents, or 25 cents less than Ontario, but that is the cost to ship it over there anyways,” said Rashid, a small ruminants business development specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.

He said the recent drop in price may seem intimidating, but noted it appears more significant than it actually is because prices were unusually high two years ago.

Rashid couldn’t hazard a guess as to why prices increased by so much in 2011, but said current lamb prices are well within normal price fluctuations.

Kasprick said buying in when the market is down meant some of her animals only cost $175. And although she only has 16 ewes — both meat and fibre — she plans to expand to augment her cattle operation.

“It’s a diversification thing,” she said. “It’s my version of an off-farm income without leaving the farm.”

Rashid said the number of cattle producers turning to sheep as a means of diversification has increased.

But even as the number of sheep on Manitoba’s farms creeps up, stocks still haven’t reached levels seen in 2006 when 65,000 sheep were in the province. In 2012, Manitoba only had 56,000 sheep, up slightly from 53,000 in 2011, Rashid said.

He noted a federally inspected slaughter plant could help expand the province’s sheep industry.

Currently, only provincially inspected plants slaughter lamb, meaning meat processed in Manitoba can’t be sold outside of the province.

“The biggest thing is the market, our industry is dependent on eastern markets,” Rashid said. “So even if we have our local supply chain we don’t have enough local consumption. There is only so much lamb we can consume in Manitoba.”

Although demand for lamb has increased in the province along with growing communities of new immigrants, Manitoba still can’t compare with communities like Vancouver or Toronto, Rashid said.

But Manitoba could help supply those markets more effectively with a federal slaughter plant, rather than shipping slaughter animals east.

“We have to ship outside, either live of processed,” he said.

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