The Ontario government will spend $25 million over three years to strengthen the agri-food supply chain through the Strategic Agri-Food Processing Fund. The funding is designed to "incentivize industry investment in projects that help address the processing capacity shortage and increase the sector’s competitiveness and resilience against future disruptions," the province says. Lisa Thompson, Minister... Read More
Category: Livestock
The temperatures may be headed downwards and winter is on its way, but beef cattle prices aren't going to be following that trend. "We've had another super week in the U.S. in terms of cash trade," says Anne Wasko of the Gateway Livestock Exchange, in this week's Beef Market Update. "Last week the market started... Read More
Methane production naturally occurs in the stomachs of ruminant animals, such as beef cattle. Microbes work together to carry out the digestion of plant cell walls, and one of the end products of the process is methane (which often gets "burped" out, not "farted.") Dr. Tim McAllister, research scientist in ruminant nutrition and microbiology at... Read More
Yanick Gervais will move from interim CEO of Olymel L.P. to CEO following an appointment by the board of directors. Gervais stepped into the role just ahead of the sudden passing of Réjean Nadeau, who passed away from cancer on October 14. Previously, Gervais was senior vice president of operations at Olymel and was responsible... Read More
Some Ontario hog farmers are still facing marketing disruptions for market-weight hogs as Olymel in Quebec continues to work its way through a significant backlog. Chair of Ontario Pork, John de Bruyn, says that while the majority of Ontario's 5.8 million hogs are processed at one of two federally-inspected plants in the province, about 25,000... Read More
The Ontario Research Centres at Elora is set to begin construction on an $18 million hog research facility, with $3.6 million from Ontario Pork and $14.4 million from the Government of Ontario The new facility will build capacity and expertise at the centre to support research to drive innovation in the swine sector and contribute... Read More
When it comes to the beef industry and climate, mainstream headlines often paint the two as going in separate directions. The Canadian agriculture sector can feel attacked by policies and messaging, and as Fawn Jackson, director of policy and international affairs at the Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA), explains from Glasgow, Scotland at the 2021 United... Read More
Biology is a wonderful thing. Given enough time and the right ingredients, soil biological processes can do some pretty amazing things, including breakdown of herbicides, cycling and releasing nitrogen, and even disposing of pathogens. The key is time: biology and biological processes can replace plenty of crop inputs given enough time. Especially for our northern... Read More
As November approaches quickly, many are asking where cattle producers are at with fall run, and what the market is looking like this year. Anne Wasko of the Gateway Livestock Exchange explains in our latest Beef Market Update that in order to understand where the market is with cows coming to town, we need to... Read More
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) has released its gross domestic product (GDP) by industry numbers for August 2021, and it is no surprise that a lack of precipitation caused a significant drop in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector. The category dropped 5.7 per cent, following a 5.5 per cent decrease in July. StatsCan says the... Read More