PED up in Ontario, down in Manitoba

While Ontario is experiencing new outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus weekly, Manitoba has cut its outbreaks to only four last year after challenges in 2017, 2019 and 2021-22.

The Manitoba pork producers’ association credits a sustained focus on biocontainment and practical biosecurity.

Biosecurity is measures taken to keep diseases out of barns. Biocontainment is measures taken to prevent disease spreading inside barns.

According to Jenelle Hamblin, director of swine health fo® Manitoba Pork, the improvement reflects the success of the province’s PED elimination plan, particularly its prevention pillar.

Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, farms worked closely with veterinarians to identify site-specific improvements, with particular emphasis on entry and exit protocols—how people, equipment, and materials move onto and off the farm.

A key priority, Hamblin explains, was ensuring biosecurity protocols were sustainable and practical, allowing staff to follow them consistently without adding unnecessary complexity to daily operations.

One of the most impactful shifts has been a stronger emphasis on biocontainment.

By practicing biocontainment measures every day—regardless of whether a disease is present—farms are better positioned to respond immediately if an infection does occur. Hamblin said that having biocontainment protocols already in place before disease detection significantly reduces the risk of inadvertently spreading infection within or between sites.

This proactive approach helps limit disease movement during the most critical early stages, when risks are often highest.

Hamblin said the measurable reduction in PED cases has reinforced confidence across the sector and motivated producers and staff to continue strengthening biosecurity and biocontainment practices.

The experience in Manitoba highlights how consistent, practical biosecurity—supported by industry coordination and veterinary collaboration—can deliver long-term disease control results, even for pathogens that have historically caused recurring challenges, said Manitoba Pork.

Tony McQuail still in NDP leadership race

 Tony McQuail remains in the race for leader of the New Democratic Party after raising the needed $25,000 to meet the party’s requirements for candidates.

The next hurdle is another $33,000 by Jan. 28.

McQuail is an ecological farmer from Lucknow who has used horses instead of diesel-guzzling motors and who once served as executive assistant to former Ontario Agriculture Minister Elmer Buchanan.

He said he is running because he wants to improve the quality of life so every Canadian has the basic needs for water, food, shelter, clothing, healthcare and education.

 His vision is a caring, and compassionate country, both for its residents at home and to the broader world community.

"People are starting to understand that the economy has been designed to concentrate wealth into fewer and fewer hands. That's not working out very well for us as a Canadian society, and we need to develop a more distributive economy."

McQuail would like to see the federal government work with provinces, municipalities, housing cooperatives and housing non-profits to build affordable and inclusive ecological housing.

He said it's time to ensure that one full time job can cover the basic cost of living with a fair tax system and a universal basic income.

"We need to start really looking at regeneration, and how do we heal the damage that we've done to our life support system, the planet earth," he said.

He also wants electoral reform so there is proportional representation, not first-past-the-post on an individual riding basis. Under a proportionate system, some of the politicians chosen would reflect the percentages of votes for qualified parties on a nation-wide basis.

The NDP leadership convention will be in Winnipeg in March.

Farmers Union condemns agriculture cuts

 

 

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has condemned the federal cuts of about 675 staff and seven research facilities.

The cuts mean “Canada will be foreclosing on the discovery, problem-solving, and knowledge-base that would have been created by these institutions, leaving us more vulnerable with fewer options,” the NFU said in a news release.

Policy vice-president Phil Mount said “we need more investment, not less, in our public research institutions and personnel. The planned cuts would remove about $154 million from AAFC’s annual budget, but this is a false economy. 

“Cutting our capacity to address known and emerging agriculture problems will be far more costly. For just one example, agricultural economist Dr. Richard Gray has shown that there is a $35 return to farmers and the public for every dollar invested in public plant breeding.”

The NFU also noted that farmers have partnered with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) by putting tens of millions of check-off dollars into these research projects, as has the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) which allocates money indirectly contributed by farmers.

 

“Closing these AAFC facilities will make it that much harder to find institutions with the capacity to utilize these funds,” said Terry Boehm, NFU representative on the WGRF.

President Jenn Pfenning of New Hamburg, ONt., said “cutting the Organic and Regenerative Research Program at the Swift Current Research Centre, the sustainable livestock programs at Lacombe and the Nappan Research Farm, along with the agro-ecosystem resilience research at Quebec City, weakens Canada’s ability to deal with climate change impacts and biodiversity loss. 

“Research is needed to develop the best kinds of solutions that will be cost-effective for farmers and help us strengthen our food sovereignty.”

By comparison, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Keith Currie withheld criticism and said seeking efficiencies is understandable.

He said farmers ”scratch our heads over some of the AAFC research projects.

CFIA suspends shipper’s licence

 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has suspended the licence of 7N3JGLG8 of 9259-8796 Québec Inc.

According to online information, it’s a water transport company.

Two added to Species at Risk board

 Two people have been appointed to three-year terms on the Species at Risk advisory committee.

Dr. Ashley Thomson  of Thunder Bay has been re-appointed vice-chair. She is an associate professor in the faculty of Natural Resources Management at Lakehead University and a registered professional forester in Ontario. She specializes in forest and wildlife genetics, with research focused on population and conservation genomics of boreal species such as woodland caribou and black spruce.

Megan Thompson, also of Thunder Bay, is a new appointee.

She is an aquatic researcher at Thompson Aquatic Consulting.

The committee's recommendations might call for farm management practices to protect species' habitat.

Interest rates may decline says FCC economist

Interest rates may decline again this year, Krishen Rangasamy, principal economist with FCC, said at its 2026 Economic Outlook.

“I understand that what we’re saying here is quite different from consensus on interest rates, because most forecasters are predicting either no change to the overnight rate or even an increase later this year,” he said.

“That may well be the right forecast if the economy picks up materially. But … we think economic growth will weaken this year and  if we’re correct about that, additional stimulus by the central bank should not be ruled out.”

He expects U.S. tariffs to remain high and said Canadians should do more to take advantage of trade agreements with countries other than the United States.

He also said some Canadians are not taking advantage of tariff-free status contained in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement and are paying a Trump-announced tariff on expots to the U.S.

He said it’s due to confusion over rules of origin requirements.

“Remember that the majority of our exports to the U.S. is tariff-free thanks to CUSMA, and yet, outside of the energy sector, our exporters have really struggled since the U.S. tariffs were imposed,” he said.

“Over the last eight years (EU) exports grew by 40 per cent to Canada. Our exports to the European Union have barely budged over that eight-year period,” he said. “So we’re struggling to even take advantage of the trade deals we’ve got already.”

Metro sales up, profits down

Metro Inc., Canada’s third-largest supermarket business, reported a 3.3 per cent increase in sales, but a 12.8 per cent decline in net revenues last year.

Profits took a hit because its frozen foods distribution centre in Toronto was down for several months.

The company said its prices increased less than the national five per cent food inflation rate last year, but did say what its percentage increase was.

When it posted its financials for the year, it also announced an increase in dividends for shareholders.