Indian pork curry with naan bread. (Paul_Brighton/iStock/Getty Images)

India to allow imports of U.S. pork and products

Washington | Reuters — India has agreed to allow imports of U.S. pork and pork products into India, removing a longstanding barrier to U.S. agricultural trade, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Monday. “India’s agreement to allow U.S. pork imports for the first time is great news for U.S.


Hogs outdoors on a farm in Italy. (Coscarella Gianfranco/iStock/Getty Images)

Swine fever found in wild boar in Italy

Reuters — African swine fever, a deadly hog disease, has been found in a wild boar in Italy’s Piedmont region, the regional government said in a statement on Friday. Tests confirmed the disease in a dead boar in Ovada, located about 120 km southwest of Milan in northern Italy, the statement said. African swine fever



(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. considers faster hog slaughter paces based on staffing

Faster speeds seen as increasing injuries

Chicago | Reuters — The Biden administration is considering a proposal that could allow some pork plants to slaughter pigs more quickly if they boost staffing, a union official said, after a U.S. court struck down a Trump-era rule that removed line speed limits. The proposal put forward by Quality Pork Processors, operator of a

(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Upgraded Olymel hog plant’s second shift begins

Ange-Gardien plant's slaughter pace to rise by up to 40 per cent

A promised second shift is now up and running at a major hog plant in Quebec’s Monteregie and is expected to eventually boost the plant’s weekly slaughter capacity by up to 40 per cent. Plans for a second shift at Olymel’s packing plant at Ange-Gardien, about 50 km east of Montreal, have been in the


(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Olymel, union reach second tentative deal to end strike

Company postpones threatened layoffs pending employees' vote Tuesday

A second agreement in principle has been reached between meat packer Olymel and the union for one of its major Quebec hog slaughter and processing plants to end a months-long strike — this time under threat of layoffs. Olymel and the CSN-affliliated Syndicat des travailleurs de Olymel Vallee-Jonction (STOVJ) announced Sunday afternoon they had reached

File photo of hogs in an outdoor pen on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (EAGiven/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. seeks to protect pork exports if swine fever hits territories

Policy would distinguish Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands from mainland

Chicago | Reuters — The United States said on Thursday it is seeking to avoid disruptions to pork exports if the territories of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands detect the fatal pig disease African swine fever. The risk for infections in the territories is higher after the Dominican Republic last month confirmed the


(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Olymel’s striking Quebec workers get layoff ultimatum

Hog slaughter plant idle since late April

Updated — The threat of job losses for about half the unionized workers at a major pork packing plant in Quebec is its owners’ latest bid to end a four-month strike. Olymel announced Tuesday it will “abolish” the evening shift at its hog slaughter and processing plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec

(Olymel video screengrab via YouTube)

Time for arbitration in Olymel strike, PQ says

Province's new mediator not enough, party says

Quebec’s third opposition party is calling on the province’s CAQ government to propose arbitration for an end to a strike at a major pork slaughter plant. The Parti Quebecois’ ag critic, Matane-Matapedia MNA Pascal Berube, and its labour critic, Jonquiere MNA Sylvain Gaudreault, made the pitch Friday, after workers from Olymel’s plant at Vallee-Jonction voted