(PHMilling.com)

Ottawa to back P+H’s Hamilton flour mill

Winnipeg agrifood firm Parrish and Heimbecker has lined up more government financing for its planned new flour mill at Hamilton, this time from the federal level. Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Thursday announced a $10 million “repayable investment” in the project from the AgriInnovation program, part of the Growing Forward 2 ag policy funding framework.

(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Fines now an option for pig traceability enforcement

Canadian hog producers who don’t follow the federal requirements for animal identification and tracking of animal movements could now be fined for non-compliance, though it’s expected such fines would be a “last resort.” The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Wednesday announced new amendments to the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations, allowing CFIA-designated officials


Date, destination and licence plate number, please.

Fines coming for not reporting pig shipments

It will no longer just be a warning for those who haven’t complied with 
regulations to report animal movements

You will soon face penalties if you ship pigs without reporting it. “There is a fine structure coming but there has not been a time confirmed yet,” said Jeff Clark, manager of PigTrace Canada, the national swine traceability program. Federal regulations to report pig movements took effect in July of 2014, requiring all shippers and

An Ontario-based producer co-operative has developed a mobile system which can provide true traceability in livestock production.

Acquiring true livestock traceability

A new mobile tool created by a Canadian producer co-operative offers producers the ability to capture livestock data in the field with the device that is already in their pocket

A new mobile tool created by a Canadian producer co-operative offers producers the ability to capture livestock data in the field with the device that is already in their pocket

A data-management platform from an Ontario producer co-operative is promising birth-to-sale traceability made easy. BIO, based in Elora, Ont., has designed three systems that work in conjunction with each other to offer mobile traceability from the birth of the calf to the sale of the final product. The future of the beef industry is data


Two newly tagged cattle walk under an archway equipped with ultra-high-frequency RFID readers that record their data during field testing with SAIT RADLab industry partner CL Ranches.

Ultra-high-frequency RFID takes tag reading to the next level

Forget reading one tag at a time, this technology can track every member of a herd going down an alley at once

Cattle producers could save themselves a fair bit of time and money — if they’re willing to make the shift from standard low-frequency RFID tags to a new ultra-high-frequency alternative. “The typical button tag has been around for a long time and works very well, but it’s in a low-frequency spectrum and the read range

Calvin Vaags, principal owner of True North Foods, says he’s hopeful CFIA officials will soon give the processing plant near Carman its federal stamp of approval.

Processing plant close to getting federal stamp, says owner

When CFIA gives green light, processing will jump to around 1,000 a week. The plant has capacity to expand

True North Foods, a beef-processing plant near Carman, expects it will have its federal licence very soon, says the plant’s principal owner Calvin Vaags. “I’ve been saying ‘two weeks’ for a long time,” he said during a recent tour by the Manitoba Beef Background and Feedlot School at October’s end, joking he’s considered wearing a


Entries wait to be judged in the Sasktoba Sheep 4-H achievement that was held for the first time in a decade at this year’s Manitoba Sheep Association Show and Sale in Carberry.

Domestic demand for lamb is on the rise

But domestic production is static and processing capacity is declining

Prices generally for commercial and purebred lambs were up a little bit from last year, say organizers of this year’s Manitoba Sheep Association Show and Sale held at Carberry on August 28 and 29. For commercial lambs, pens of five averaged $197.50 per head, and for pens of two the average price was $214 per

Vince McConnell, beef sector business development specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, spoke at last month’s Direct Farm Marketing conference.

Bar-code system can link every package of meat to the farm

Ontario-based co-operative offers new tracking options for small and medium-size operations

Telling customers about their farm and how their animals are raised is part of the marketing strategy for grass-fed beef producers, and two tools to help them were demonstrated at the Direct Farm Marketing Conference here last month. “We have some neat systems developing that are great tools to use in the endeavour of producing


cows with RFID tags

Is beef traceability being used to its full potential?

Other countries extend traceability right to the packaging of meat so customers can 
find out what individual animal and farm it came from

As I’ve been travelling this past year, I’ve been astonished by the level of traceability in processing plants abroad. I was welcomed into two plants, on two different continents, with open arms and fantastic hospitality with the only request being I leave my camera outside. Geographically these two businesses couldn’t be further apart but their