Farmers and community members help to rescue stranded cattle from a farm at Abbotsford, B.C. on Nov. 16, 2021, after rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in the area. (Photo: Reuters/Jesse Winter)

Road closures mean disposal for B.C. milk

Dairy farmers in Kootenays can still move milk east to Alberta

Many of British Columbia’s dairy producers can expect to have to dump raw milk for the near future as highways and other roads are rendered impassable. The B.C. Milk Marketing Board on Tuesday said milk won’t be picked up until further notice in several areas where roads are closed and/or trucks can’t enter the Lower

(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan sees higher cattle, hog inventories at July 1

Full impacts of West's drought not yet counted

Nationwide head counts of livestock from the “early stages” of Western Canada’s ongoing drought won’t yet show the weather’s full impact, but showed slightly larger herds heading into this summer compared to last year. Statistics Canada on Monday reported the first year-over-year increase in the size of the country’s cattle herd as of July 1


(Stanzi11/iStock/Getty Images)

Dairy farmers asked to pass on palm byproducts in rations, for now

Seek out other ingredients while hard-butter issue under review, DFC asks

Canadian dairy farmers whose feed rations include supplements made with palm byproducts are being asked to consider other options while consumer complaints over butter are probed more closely. Dairy Farmers of Canada on Thursday asked its farmer members to “consider alternatives to palm supplements” pending the outcome of a review of “issues that have been

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

COVID-19 aid ‘falls short,’ farm groups warn

Aid package includes AgriRecovery for cattle, hog sectors

Ottawa — Despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying more money will be provided if needed, the agriculture sector continues to criticize Ottawa’s $252 million in COVID-19-related financial aid offered to producers and processors. “If we have to add more, we will,” said Trudeau, after announcing new funding and programming. The federal government is offering an


(MartineDoucet/E+/Getty Images)

Beef Farmers of Ontario ask for curb on cull sales

BFO concerned over processing 'backlogs'

Updated, April 15 — Ontario’s cattle producer organization is asking members to consider delaying sales of cull cows until market conditions “normalize.” Beef Farmers of Ontario’s board on Thursday published a memo to beef and dairy cattle producers, asking them to help “prevent a further surge in cull cows in the market” — especially of

A small room off the milkhouse, encompassing the front of the tank, helps to limit contact with the milk truck driver at the Herrema farm at Uxbridge, northeast of Toronto. (Gerrit Herrema photo)

Dairy sector shuts down most visits from off-farm providers

In agriculture, dairy farms are among those most called-on by outside services

New additions to Gerrit Herrema’s dairy barn have made it easier for his family to abide by recent directions to avoid contact with milk truck drivers to reduce COVID-19’s spread. “We have boot washes and other biosecurity measures in the barn. We need to take these measures in order to minimize the damage,” said Herrema,



A rendition, by Genitique, of the planned biomethanization plant to be built at Warwick, about 65 km southeast of Trois-Rivieres. (Groupe CNW/Energir)

Quebec ag co-op to power up on dairy cattle manure

About a dozen Quebec dairy farms will be getting their collective manure together next year for the province’s first-ever ag co-operative devoted to renewable natural gas. Coop Agri-Energie Warwick, launched Monday, plans to start construction this spring on a $12 million biomethanization plant which will take in slurry and manure from dairy cattle mixed with


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Cattle producers get longer phase-in on new transport regs

New federal livestock transport regulations, due to come into force in February, will now roll out on a longer timeline for the beef and dairy cattle sectors. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has announced a “two-year transition period” for bovines, which is meant to provide “time to gather more data on effective solutions concerning the

File photo of cattle on Prince Edward Island. (COSPV/iStock/Getty Images)

P.E.I. to manage deadstock removal

Prince Edward Island’s latest provincial operating budget calls for its agriculture and land department to directly manage removal of deadstock for dairy and beef cattle producers. Finance Minister Darlene Compton’s 2019-20 operating budget, presented Tuesday, said the province will take over management of the deadstock contract “to reduce the administrative burden placed on the dairy