After a very difficult couple weeks at the Cargill beef processing facility at High River, Alta., due to an increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases and one death, the Minneapolis-based company has decided to idle the plant until the company and employees can adapt to operating during a pandemic. In a statement to RealAgriculture, Jon... Read More
Category: Livestock
Chicken Farmers of Canada's board of directors has adjusted the May to July chicken allocation by 12.6 per cent nationally, to reduce production in an effort to address lower demand for chicken from restaurants and food service providers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decrease in production will be highest in Ontario, Quebec,... Read More
Editors Note: Given the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, this information will continue to be updated. Last update: April 21, 2020, 2:00PM MST. There have been 360 cases of COVID-19 linked to Cargill's beef packing plant at High River, Alberta, as of Tuesday afternoon. Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw shared... Read More
The COVID-19 outbreak has the animal protein sector in flux at all levels of the value chain, and everyone is attempting to find reasonable measures to balance their own interests with others'. Producers want packers to stay open so they have a place to ship animals, and to avoid the problematic scenarios that could unfold... Read More
When the Harmony Beef plant closed for three days in late March, it was a warning of bigger problems ahead. After a couple weeks of beef slaughter plant slow-downs or closures in North America — including in Alberta, at Cargill in High River and JBS at Brooks — producers are very concerned on how the... Read More
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) is asking the federal government for "immediate, meaningful help" for Canada's food and farming industry. During a press conference, Mary Robinson, president of the CFA, warned that without immediate assistance from the federal government, the Canadian agriculture sector cannot ensure our domestic food supply will remain secure for the... Read More
Meat coolers are going to look a lot different as we navigate COVID-19, but according to the Canadian Meat Council, each step of the livestock processing chain is collaborating, communicating, and committed to keeping food moving to grocery stores. Chris White, president and CEO of the Canadian Meat Council, says the livestock processing sector is... Read More
During the NAFTA renegotiations, it was continually reinforced by Canada and the U.S. that the beef supply chain between the two countries is highly integrated. From a trade perspective many look at this as a positive, but that does mean we share in market risk. Early on Monday, April 13, RealAgriculture was notified by feedyards... Read More
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) is recommending the immediate reinstatement of a set-aside program that was implemented during the BSE era to address the challenges with beef processing capacity being created by COVID-19. The CCA says it's in discussions with the federal government about implementing the program to encourage producers to hold cattle longer when... Read More
The week has started off with more livestock processing issues, as the industry attempts to deal with COVID-19. Cargill's High River, Alta., beef plant is the latest in a growing list of plants to either slow its slaughter line down or shut it down entirely due to COVID-19 risks. According to several sources, the High... Read More