Eadie named to Normal Farm Practices board.
Doug Eadie of Kincardine has been chosen by the provincial government for a three-year term on the Normal Farm Practices Review Board.
The position carries payment of $398 per day when they are at board meetings or serving on a review panel.
The board, according to a government website, has “the power to inquire into and resolve a dispute respecting an agricultural operation, including the determination of what constitutes a normal farm practice and to make the necessary inquiries and orders to ensure compliance with its decisions.”
British cheese recalled
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says Tree of Life of Surrey, British Columbia, has expanded its recall of King James brand Blue Stilton Cheese to all lots imported from the manufacturer in England.
The cheese might have listeria monocytogenes bacteria which would be a severe threat to unborn babies. There could be premature delivery, infection of the baby and even stillbirth, the agency warns.
So far no illnesses have been reported in Canada, although the cheese that is under recalls was distributed nationally.
The agency says elderly people and those with compromised immune systems are also at greater risk than the general population. Symptoms are high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. There is nothing in the appearance or odour of contaminated cheese to alert consumers.
Westco wins vs. Maple Lodge
Westco and Olymel have won a court victory over Nadeau Poultry Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maple Lodge Farms Ltd. of Norval, Ont., in the long-standing battle over chicken processing in New Brunswick.
The judges of the Federal Court of Appeal unanimously upheld a ruling by the Competition Bureau that denied Nadeau’s claim on chicken production in the province.
Westco is controlled by a Quebec-based investor who has won support from a clear majority of chicken producers. Even though their barns are close to the Nadeau plant, they have been shipping their birds to an Olymel plant in Quebec.
Olymel is a partner with Westco in a venture they now call Sunnymel.
They intend to build a processing plant in New Brunswick. Maple Lodge says there’s not enough room for both companies and calls the Sunnymel venture a failure of supply management.
Meanwhile, Maple Lodge has teamed with a farmers’ cooperative in New Brunswick to convert the former Larsen’s meat-packing facility for chicken slaughter. Maple Lodge has been trucking birds from Nova Scotia to its Nadeau plant in New Brunswick following a fire that destroyed Nova Scotia’s largest processing plant.
Nadeau has indicated it will probably seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Royal chicken sandwich event
Ottawa - Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) is launching a Royal Gala sandwich for its 19th annual Parliament Hill Great Canadian Chicken BBQ.
It is named in honour of the visit of William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The event will be in Major’s Park and sandwiches will be on sale from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. July 1
Fifty cents will be donated to the Ottawa Food Bank from each sale of a sandwich and salad for $4 or double pack, which consists of two chicken items, two drinks and two bags of chips, for $15.
The national agency for chicken farmers will also sponsor cooking demonstrations by the Executive Chef of the Centurion Conference and Event Center, which is a partner in hosting the barbecue.
Sprouts confirmed in German deaths
German officials have confirmed that sprouts from an organic farm were the source of E. coli 0104 that has killed 131 and sickened nearly 3,100 people.
That leaves Spanish farmers fuming because they lost markets for cucumbers, tomatoes and other fresh salad ingredients when German authorities urged the public to stop consuming them because they first, and wrongly, believed they were the source of the bacteria that produce the poisons that felled people.
There have been offers of compensation of about $100 million, but the Spanish farmers say they lost at least $350 million.
Sprouts were identified as a likely source, then cleared after 40 samples taken at the farm failed to turn up any E. coli 0104, then re-identified by tracing the bacteria in hospital patients to salads they ate, then to bean sprouts and then to the specific organic farm in Northern Germany.
Frozen food pioneer dies
Henry Class, a pioneer in Ontario’s frozen food industry, has died in Kitchener. He was 95.
He was Canadian president of Mrs. Smith’s Frozen Pies and president of the Ontario Frozen Food Industry Council in 1968 when plans were made to form the Canadian Frozen Food Association.
He served as chairman of the Cancer Society in the Iroquois District and was an avid swimmer, including 1934 champion at the Commonwealth Games and a Master Senior Swimmer and winner of many medals, including World Champion Master Swimmer.
FCC urges financing review
Farm Credit Canada is urging farmers to review their financing in light of a likely rise in interest rates next year.
Senior economist Jean-Philippe Gervais says many expect interest rates will increase by 1.75 per cent next year, ending 2012 at about 4.75 per cent.
One of the options the FCC mentions is splitting loans among two or more mortgages.
While that’s more complex to manage, it has the advantage of locking in interest rates for various lengths of time.
