The meat section in a grocery store in Selkirk, Man., on Jan. 30, 2022.

The resiliency of ‘local’

North America’s meatpackers are not having a good time. As our reporter Don Norman wrote in last week’s front-page story, there’s been a torrent of bad news from some of the biggest names in the business. In early May, Reuters reported that U.S.-based Tyson Foods, the world’s second-largest producer of beef, pork and chicken, had

Arun Alexander, Canada’s deputy ambassador to the U.S.

Proposed meat label bad news for North American livestock, meat supply chains: industry

If consumers wanted a voluntary label, they would already exist, Manitoba Pork’s Cam Dahl says

Washington, D.C. — Canada doesn’t want a proposed American rule for voluntary meat labelling to disrupt North America’s integrated meat and livestock industry, and thus damage Canada’s meat sector. “While we, of course, support efforts related to truth in labelling for consumers, we are concerned about the potential real-world consequences of the proposed rule on

The USDA building in Washington, D.C. (Art Wager/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. ag secretary backs proposed meatpacking investigator

Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday threw his support behind a proposal to establish a special investigator to address concerns about anti-competitive practices in the meat and poultry industries. Republican U.S. Senators Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Charles Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana have proposed legislation


Brandon’s Maple Leaf plant is the site of Canada’s latest COVID outbreak in a packing facility.

COVID-19 strikes Brandon pork plant

Growing COVID-19 cases among Maple Leaf Foods staff last week raised the first serious concerns of a meat plant closure in Manitoba

The union representing workers at Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant says it’s seeing echoes of Alberta. Late last week, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 832 pushed Maple Leaf Foods to close the pork plant after eight workers tested positive for COVID-19. Why it matters: Until now, Manitoba’s meat processors have largely dodged the

Contingency plans tentatively in place for Brandon pork plant closure

Contingency plans tentatively in place for Brandon pork plant closure

No plans to close Maple Leaf Foods plant in Brandon despite COVID-19 cases, union calls to do so

“Every effort” will be made to find processing capacity for hogs if Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant closes due to a cluster of COVID-19 cases there says Manitoba Pork. “I want to emphasize there is no plan being put in place to shut down the plant in Brandon,” Manitoba Pork general manager Andrew Dickson told

The CFIA says that the exemption would help ease any meat shortages that emerge because of the ongoing pandemic.

Interprovincial meat exemption raises questions

Manitoba ag minister says questions remain on interprovincial exemption for trade of provincially inspected meat

Provincial meat plants may be able to temporarily do business across provincial lines thanks to a temporary exemption, but Manitoba officials argue that the federal measure doesn’t go far enough and details are scarce. Why it matters: Manitoba’s agriculture minister is pushing for regulations on interprovincial trade to be generally relaxed, and not just during


Manitoba no closer to new beef-processing capacity

Manitoba no closer to new beef-processing capacity

The industry has long desired more slaughter and processing capacity here at home, but despite decades of hoping, nothing is on the horizon

It’s an intermittent thorn in the side for Manitoba beef producers. Lack of local processing capacity is a popular topic among the sector, one that has cropped up time and time again for decades, and one that gains particular traction when, like now, the market turns sour. Why it matters: Processing issues out of Alberta

Editorial: Meat packing concentration leads to problems

When Canadians flocked to their grocery stores to stock up for the pandemic lockdown, most weren’t filling their carts with plant-based proteins. It was the meat counters that cleared out along with the toilet paper shelves, baking ingredients, and with other basics considered necessities. While more Canadians have been experimenting with these plant-based proteins, most