(Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf to cut 400 middle-management jobs

Reuters — Maple Leaf Foods said Wednesday it would cut 400 management jobs, or about three per cent of its workforce, saying it was ready to streamline operations after starting up Canada’s biggest meat plant. Maple Leaf, one of the country’s biggest pork processors, said the majority of the job cuts would be completed by

Maple Leaf  swings to profit but shares slide

Maple Leaf swings to profit but shares slide

Maple Leaf Foods swung to a rare profit in the third quarter as the company nears the end of its restructuring plan. The profit is only Maple Leaf’s second in the past 11 quarters, but was slightly smaller than expected. Shares fell nearly seven per cent in Toronto trading to $20.95, as the company delayed


Chris Aylward (l) and Bob Kingston speak about government cuts to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

CFIA cuts hurting food safety

With an election looming, now is seen as the time to put food safety and funding cuts on candidates’ agendas

Agroup concerned with food safety says the current government’s refusal to acknowledge a Canada-wide shortage of federal inspectors is putting public safety at risk. Speaking to reporters in Winnipeg, the president of the union representing federal food inspectors said that the Conservative government’s own staff have raised the alarm over cuts to the Canadian Food



George Matheson

Manitoba Pork Council veteran takes over as chair

Issues of trade, capacity and welfare will continue 
to be dealt with under new MPC chairperson

After more than a decade, there is a new face at the helm of the Manitoba Pork Council. George Matheson was chosen as the council’s new chairperson by the organization’s board of directors following its annual general meeting in Winnipeg last week. “We have a great group this year, with three new members… and that’s

(Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf reduces Q4 loss, hikes dividend

Reuters — Meat processor Maple Leaf Foods reported a smaller, but still disappointing, quarterly loss on Thursday, as it worked through a plan to close older packing plants. Even so, the company will double its quarterly dividend to eight cents. CEO Michael McCain said the move reflected confidence in the business outlook. Maple Leaf, one



Maple Leaf’s Brandon plant is operating at 75 per cent capacity due to shortages of hogs and workers.  photo: supplied

Double trouble for Maple Leaf

Pigs and people to 
process them are in 
short supply

Getting more pigs and people to process them into Maple Leaf Foods’ hog-killing plant in Brandon isn’t as simple as putting more dollars on the table, said the plant’s Morgan Curran-Blaney. “There’s not enough (pigs) so you end up stealing from somebody else,” Curran-Blaney told reporters July 10 after speaking at the Keystone Agricultural Producers’


Two men outside standing beside each other.

Mechanical processing arm receives award

Zhoda barn manager honoured at Banff Pork Seminar

The developer of a tool that improves handling for baby pigs at processing and improves the health and well-being of farm workers has been awarded the 2014 F.X. Aherne Prize for Innovative Pork Production by the Banff Pork Seminar. Helmut Janz, a barn manager for Maple Leaf in Zhoda, Manitoba, received the award for his

Needle-free injection urged for swine

Manitoba Pork Council and Maple Leaf Foods urge pork producers to switch to 
needle-less injection system after needle fragments found at Brandon plant

Hog producers are being urged to consider needle-less injection systems following the discovery of needle fragments at Maple Leaf Foods’ Brandon pork plant. “I think we’re going to look at pushing that technology more and more, because the issue of food safety is very important,” said Mark Fynn, an animal care specialist with the Manitoba