Stall-free pork coming to McDonald’s menu

Amove by fast-food giant McDonald’s to have its U.S. pork suppliers phase out sow gestation stalls has drawn praise from animal rights groups, but questions remain about the impact it will have on Canadian producers. “This is huge. That a major corporation has made this move is really very significant,” said Winnipeg Humane Society CEO

China Banks On Massive Pork Farms

BEIJING/SHANGHAI/REUTERS A growing number of firms have laid out plans to build massive industrial-scale pig farms in China, the world’s largest pork consumer, as Beijing resumed a $2.5-billion-yuan subsidy to spur pig breeding and prevent future supply shocks. China, the pork powerhouse of the world, produces some 50 million tonnes of pork each year and


Industry Fails To Deliver Traceability Promise – for Sep. 23, 2010

Years ago, I was invited to a conference designed to look at long-term strategies for Canada’s ag sector. Representatives were there from most major farm groups, as well as stakeholders in the agribusiness and processing sectors. One break-out session in particular that stuck in my mind was on the meat sector. I listened rather intently

COOL Case Finally Underway At WTO

“I don’t think they have any legal grounds to stand on.” – John Masswohl, Cca Canada’s long-delayed trade challenge to the U. S. country-of-origin labelling rule is finally ready to roll. The World Trade Organization last week named a three-person panel to rule on whether COOL violates international trade law. Canada and Mexico have launched

Pork Woes First On Agriculture Committee Menu

The first hearing of the Commons agriculture committee in the new session of Parliament was on a familiar topic – the financial hemorrhaging in the pork industry. For Jurgen Preugschas, president of the Canadian Pork Council and Jim Laws, executive director of the Canadian Meat Council, it was another opportunity to reiterate the problems facing


Manitoba Pork Producers Ease Toward Sow Stall Ban

“We think this is something we can’t ignore.” – MIKE TEILLET, MPC The Manitoba Pork Council may be edging toward supporting the eventual elimination of gestation crates for pregnant sows. A proposed policy statement in a sustainable development strategy being developed by the council calls for more research on, and a possible switch to, alternative