Feds paid $107,009,881.31 in AI compensation

The federal government paid $107,009,881.31 in compensation for outbreaks of Avian Influenza according to data released from the Canadian Food Inspection in response to an Access to Information request.

The largest claim was for $8,562,428.70 paid on Sept. 6 this year. It was by far the largest.

The second-largest was $6,221,619 paid Aug.6, 2022.

The third-largest was $4,585,50 was paid Mar. 28, 2023.

Another $4,067,350 paid July 5, 2022.

A payment of $2,599,191 went out on April 3 this year and $2,077,853.12 on Sept. 2. 2022.

There were five of $1.5 million or more, two between $1 and $1.5 million and 10 between $600,000 and $1 million.

There were a few for $10.

The data does not reveal names or locations.

When the virus is identified in a flock, the CFIA orders it destroyed and sets up a five-kilometre quarantine zone that bans poultry-industry traffic in and out. 

Sweda files lawsuit vs. egg board, Burnbrae, Gray

Sweda Farms, owned by Svante Lind of Blackstock, has filed a second lawsuit against Burnbrae Farms, Grayridge and the Egg Farmers of Ontario marketing board, alleging they have conspired to keep Sweda out of the egg-grading market in Ontario.

The original lawsuit, now years old and yet to go to trial, alleges they conspired to drive Sweda out of the market.

Sweda filed the second lawsuit after the egg board refused its request to use its marketing mandate and power to direct the production from 200,000 hens (5.3 million eggs per year) to Sweda.

Failing to direct eggs from farmers deprives Sweda of its right to participate in the market, says the lawsuit. It also notes that senior executives of the two companies are directors of the Ontario egg board.

The lawsuit argues that Burnbrae and Grayride hold a dominating market share. That restricts farmers’ choice of a grading station to which they can direct their eggs and limits supplier choice for wholesale buyers and retail chains and their customers.

Now Burnbrae has made a deal with the Nutri Group to buy its egg-grading stations in Kitchener and Monkton, exaggerating concentration in the market.

Sweda’s lawsuit says “the Gray Defendants and the Burnbrae Defendants, who were and are Ontario’s largest egg producers and graders, unlawfully conspired to raise, maintain, fix, and/or stabilize prices, and reduce rebates, at which eggs were sold in Ontario to wholesale customers, retail customers and breaking stations, by eliminating Sweda as a competitor from the egg grading market.”

It says “they conspired, agreed, and arranged to allocate sales, territories, customers or markets for the production or supply of producers eggs in Ontario in a manner that benefitted themselves.”

And it says they used the egg board in their conspiracy.

It also alleges they violated the federal competition act.

 

The accused have denied any wrongdoing. No date has yet been set for a trial.

Burnbrae buying two Nutri stations

Burnbrae Farms has an agreement with the Nutri Group to buy its egg-grading stations in Kitchener and Monkland, Ont.

It further consolidates the dominant hold that Burnbrae and Gray Ridge Eggs have in the Ontario market; it will now exceed 90 per cent.

There is a civil lawsuit, filed by Svante Lind, that alleges the two have discussed which one will serve which customers in various parts of Ontario and beyond, and when they will change wholesale prices.

They also made a joint purchase of Metzger Produce egg-grading station at Wallenstein, the largest previous sale of an egg-grading business in Ontario.

Lind’s lawsuit alleges that they and the Egg Farmers of Ontario marketing board colluded to drive him out of the egg-grading industry. 

A date has yet to be set for the trial which now involves only Gray and the egg board after Lind’s previous lawyer failed to require Burnbrae to produce documents and a judge ruled that Burnbrae could be let out.

Avian influenza hits in Alta., Sask,

 

Birds are migrating south and three poultry flocks in Western Canada have been hit by avian influenza.

Two in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan will be euthanized to prevent the disease from spreading.

There are also quarantine zones to block traffic in or out to keep the highly contagious virus from spreading.

Canada bans poultry from France

 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is temporarily suspending the importation of all live poultry, hatching eggs, and raw fresh/frozen poultry products originating from France, effective October 1, 2023, the agency said on its website.

“This measure is being taken to manage the potential risk from France’s vaccination campaign for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).”

Turkey Farmers create float

 

Turkey Farmers of Ontario has bought a float to enter in the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest parade Monday. Oct. 9.

It is one of Canada’s largest parades.

Turkey Farmers of Ontario is also planning to serve turkey-recipe foods that day.

The huge float is made of wood, foam and paper.

Bunge, Viterra merger to be reviewed

 

The federal government is going to review the planned merger of Bunge and Viterra.

As part of the review, the transport ministry will launch a public interest assessment of the proposed acquisition, which must be completed by June 2, 2024, said Transport MinisterPablo Rodriguez.

“Both companies hold ownership interests in port terminals throughout our country. Healthy competition in the transportation sector is necessary to ensure fair pricing and access for users, especially for Canadian farmers," Rodriguez said.

Ashley Honsberger to head OSCIA

 

Ashley Honsberger is moving from executive director of the Poultry Industry Council to executive director of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association effective Oct. 9.

She takes over from Andrew Graham who has been with the OSCIA for 33 years, the last eight at executive director.

OSCIA said in a release Honsberger brings a strong background in administration and leadership

Aussie farmers launch new dairy organization

 

The leaders of the dairy branch of the Victorian Farmers Federation have resigned and launched a new organization called Dairy Farmers of Victoria.

They hope to soon enlist 1,000 members.

Their leader is Mark Billing, who resigned as president of Victorian Farmers Federation.

 It comes after months of internal and external turmoil for the VFF and its president Emma Germano, who is also facing a revolt from Grains Group members.

Billing said the VFF had not been delivering dairy farmers value for their membership dollars, which are paid at a rate of $800 (about $700 Canadian) per million litres of milk produced.

“This has been a long time coming; we’ve been trying to talk to VFF over a long period of time but unfortunately the VFF leadership has made a decision not to sit down and talk to us and look at a way forward,” he said.

“There is a lack of dairy farmer levy money coming back to the commodity to do policy development and advocacy.

U.S. bans meat from some Canadian plants

 

Food safety inspectors from the United States banned a number of Canadian plants from marketing into the U.S. market until and unless they come up to compliance with Canadian Food Inspection Agency standards.

Olymel and Maple Leaf were included in the bans.

CFIA officials accompany the American inspectors when they come to check conditions and at the end of their inspection they agree on what they observed.

This practice has been going on for at least 45 years. I know because I was the first Canadian reporter to write about it.

Olymel S.E.C. had two delistings, (removal from the list of Canadian plants approved to export to the U.S) both on July 2 this year.

D & S Meat Products of Ajax, Ont., was also delisted this July 1.

Amir Quality Meats, Inc,, was delisted Aug.3, 2022. It is a Halal meat plant in Brampton.

Hamel Inc. of Levis, Que., was delisted Feb. 7, 2002.

975837 Ontario Ltd (Patty King International of Concord) was delisted Feb. 7, 2002.

Abattoir Agri-Bio, Inc., of Saint-Agapit, Que., was delisted Feb. 7, 2002.

Meilleures Marquees Limitee of Blainveille, Que., was delisted Aug., 23, 2022.

The U.S.Department of Agriculture posts its list of Canadian plants that are both approved and delisted.

The list does no distinguish between voluntary removals and disciplinary removals.

Help for maple syrup producers

The federal and provincial governments are offering up to $1 million spread over two years in a program called the Maple Production Improvement Initiative.

It is only open to producers with more than 1,000 taps and is a 50-50 cost-sharing program aimed at improving operations and is capped at $20,000 per producer. It’s available retroactive to April 1.

Applications open Nov. 9.

Examples of projects that qualify as improving productivity, efficiency and growth are reverse osmosis and remote monitoring systems.

Vicrossano licence suspended

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has suspended the licence of Vicrossano Inc. of Montreal.

It said the suspension is “because a risk of injury to human health may result if the licence holder continues to conduct an activity that is identified in the licence. There is no recall associated with this suspension.”

The company processes organic peanuts, almonds and cashews into butters.

Ararat tahina on recall

 

Ararat tahina is on recall because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has found salmonella food poisoning bacteria.

It was distributed in Ontario and Quebec. The CFIA said no illnesses have been reported.

Ararat Trading Co. is in Mississauga and specializes in imports from the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries.

New subsidy for deadstock removal

The federal and Ontario governments are offering up to $1.5 million over two years to improve the removal, handling, and disposal of deadstock. 

The Increasing Deadstock Capacity Initiative will provide funding support for deadstock management that addresses immediate and short-term deadstock capacity needs at businesses and municipalities.  

The Initiative will support new and existing deadstock collectors, renderers and composting facilities who provide service to customers such as abattoirs and sales barns, that need to dispose of dead animals.

It is also open to waste management companies, commodity associations, and municipalities. 

The governments said these subsidies “aimsto better serve the needs of livestock farmers through increasing capacity and improving sustainability.”

It will be delivered through the Agricultural Adaptation Council.

 

Applications are open now until Sept. 23, 2023, and projects must be completed by Feb. 1, 2025. 

Guideline and application materials are available on the AAC website at www.adaptcouncil.org/program/deadstock.

Fertilizer prices to remain down

Fertilizer prices will continue to decline into the first part of next year, wrote Farm Credit Canada’s senior economist Leigh Anderson.

Other analysts think prices will hold steady because fall demand will be higher as farmers decide to restore soil nutrient levels that were reduced by their resistance to high fertilizer prices the previous two years.

International fertilizer prices declined over the summer, partly because China increased urea exports.

“The drought in Western Canada and the excessive moisture levels in Eastern Canada will impact fertilizer demand in 2024,” Anderson wrote.

“Price outlooks suggest a revision to more historical levels,” wrote Lance Ruppert, executive director of agronomy marketing & technology, in an article for GrowMark.

 “After two years of the market cheating (application) rates, we expect demand to rebound,” he wrote.

Jay Boomsma, vice-president of the chemical and fertilizer division at Agri Partners, said the combination of robust grain prices and much lower fertilizer prices bodes well for farmers.

“The grain market price is still high enough to make it very profitable for the farmer,” he said.

“It’s one of the best fertilizer-to-corn price ratios we have had.”

Labour minister McNaughton resigns

Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton is leaving politics for the private sector.

Premier Doug Ford said ““Monte helped build a coalition of private-sector union support that has never existed in the history of the Ontario PC Party. He introduced ground-breaking measures to protect workers’ rights and ensure that more workers are in the driver’s seat of their own careers.”

McNaughton had the temporary foreign workers situation dumped in his lap and responded with a number of measures to improve their lot.

The Globe and Mail said his departure has nothing to do with the Greenbelt scandal.

Ford announced Thursday that he is reversing the decision his government made last year to take 7,400 acres out of the Greenbelt for housing development. 

He lost two cabinet ministers when Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk revealed that developers who lobbied the government would benefit by more than $8 billion.

Housing Minister Steve Clark was the first to resign and earler this week Kaleed Rasheed resigned over taking a trip with a developer to Las Vegas. His wife also worked for the developer who owned some of the land that was taken out of the Greenbelt. 

Poland cuts aid to Ukraine

Poland is cutting its military aid to the Ukraine because grain is flooding into its markets and depressing prices.

Grain from the Ukraine needs to move overland because Russia is refusing to renew an agreement to allow ships to carry it through the Black Sea to eager buyers in Africa and Asia.

Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest producers of wheat and sunflowers and its grains industry is the backbone of the Ukrainian economy.

After refusing to renew the export deal, Russia has bombed grain facilities at Odessa and along the Volga River, giving Ukraine little choice but to market overland through other countries, mainly Poland.

Poland’s farmers have been complaining, prompting the political response this week.

Oh my! The power of a farm lobby.

Lactalis to close Belleville plant, move to Oshawa

 

Lactalis is planning to move into a huge distribution centre in Oshawa in the spring of 2025, but it is closing other distribution centres such as the one in Belleville.

The new plant will be leased from Broccolini which will build the 279,000 square feet facility.

This will be the biggest distribution centre that the global Lacatlis Group owns, said Mark Taylor, president of Lactalis Canada.

The centre will distribute cheese, spreads sold under brand names such as Cracker Barrel, Black Diamond,  Balderson, Astro and Lactalis. It will serve the Toronto and area market.

The Oshawa facility will employ about 80 people. The one in Belleville employs 69.

Little Oak infant formula warning

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning that Little Oak infant formula products made of goats’ milk has not been approved for marketing. It’s from New Zealand.

The CFIA said the company has failed to submit information for its perusal so its safety and nutritional standards are not known, nor have its labels been approved.

The CFIA said some of the products may have been sold online where it is advertised as made from “natural goat milk.”

TB used to stimulate pigs’ immune response

 

Researchers in Spain have used heat-inactivated tuberculosis to heighten pigs’ immune response to salmonella bacteria.

They report that the treated pigs were healthier, gained more weight and had fewer respiratory issues.

They say their research proves that  exposure to inactivated mycobacteria has positive clinical, pathological and immunological effects against other bacterial pathogens.

The research was done by scientists at the University of Córdoba, the Veterinary Health Surveillance Center of the Complutense University of Madrid and the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development.

Walmart Canada has meat contract with British firm

Walmart Canada has a long-term contract with Hilton Foods of England to buy Canadian beef, pork, lamb and seafood for its grocery stores.

Hilton said it will likely source the meat and seafood from Canadian suppliers.

Hilton will be providing burgers, meatballs, sausages and marinated products and will do the processing and packaging in a plant it intends to rent somewhere in Eastern Canada.

It expects the facility to be equipped and running sometime next year.

Enbridge proposes a pipeline

 

Enbridge and Waste Management have applied to build a 15.3-kilometre gas pipeline inn Brooke-Alvinston and Warwick Township near Sarnia.

The gas would come from a landfill at Twin Creeks Environmental Centre in Watford. The pipeline from there would link up with an existing natural gas system in Brooke-Alvinston.

Enbridge spokesperson Andrea Stass said the project will help Ontario lower its carbon footprint, because producing energy out of waste displaces the need for conventional natural gas. 

"We're expecting to start building in the spring of 2024," Stass sai, pending approval from the Ontario Energy Board.

Feds provide help to B.C.

 

The federal government is providing $1.81 million over the next three years to help the British Columbia Poultry Association to respond to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). 

The money is to be used to develop and implement standard training, maintain personal protection equipment inventories and upgrade poultry worker training education and biocontainment procedures.

More than 100 commercial and non-commercial chicken operations in British Columbia were infected with HPAI between April 2022 and April 2023, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3.7 million birds.

Another enoki mushrooms recall

 

There is yet another recall of enoki mushrooms because of the discovery of Listeria monocytogenes food-poisoning bacteria.

This time it’s Super brand enoki mushrooms distributed in Ontario.

The discovery was made by Canadian Food Inspection Agency testing. It has no reports of anyone falling ill.

There were recalls of enoki mushrooms in March and July.

Nova Scotia poultry processor getting $3 million

Eden Valley Poultry in Nova Scotia is getting almost $3 million from the Supply Management Processing Investment Fund to update its processing and wastewater facilities. 

Some of the investments will involve automation which will increase the plant capacity.

Eden Valley Is the only federally-inspected poultry plant in Nova Scotia, has been in operation since 2012 and processes fresh whole chicken boneless chicken breasts and frozen whole turkeys.

The plant is a joint venture of Maple Lodge Farms of Brampton and the province’s poultry producers.

The Supply Management Processing Investment Fund was set up by the federal government to compensate the poultry industry for import concessions made in trade deals with the United States, Europe and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Russia’s wheat is competition for Canada and U.S.

 

With Russian bombardments hampering exports from the Ukraine, Russia is now the major competitor for global wheat markets.

The wheat harvest in the U.S. has rebounded from two years of lesser harvests.

CoBank says in a report on the grain elevator business that they can look for a larger handle this year but they face the risk that global wheat prices may go up.

“Wheat stocks among major exporters are historically tight, and any disruption to the flow of Russian exports through the Black Sea could trigger a sharp price run-up,” CoBank said.

“The flood of cheap Russian wheat into the global market may have created a false sense of security in the world wheat market,” said Tanner Ehmke, grains and oilseeds economist for CoBank.

“The greatest margin risk to storing wheat is the shrinking world wheat crop outside of Russia and China, which leaves the market vulnerable to supply shocks and extreme volatility in wheat prices.” 

The cost of storing grains, including wheat, remains historically high due to the sharp rise in interest rates. 

That will pinch profits, particularly for the hard wheats, it said.

They can hope to offset that with higher prices for the grain they own.

The rebound in the U.S. wheat harvest was largely due to big increases in soft red winter wheat yields in the Midwest, where farmers produced the biggest crop in nine years. This year’s soft red winter wheat harvest rose 31 per cent from last year, said the United States Department of Agriculture.

In the Central and Southern Plains, production of hard red winter wheat lost significant yield under ongoing drought. Overall production rose 10 per cent from last year, according to USDA, mainly because more acres were harvested.

The hard red spring harvest in the Northern Plains is expected to be down seven per cent from last year despite expanded acreage. Late planting followed by persistent drought limited yields. 

A decline in Canadian hard red spring wheat production is expected to hold prices at a significant premium in the year ahead. 

Plenty of cheap Russian wheat combined with a strong U.S. dollar continue to be major headwinds for U.S. wheat exports, CoBank said.

Russia’s currency is down by 30 per cent from last year and is putting Russian exports on sale and pushing down world wheat prices. Russia is currently harvesting a near-record wheat crop with substantial carryover inventories from last year’s record-sized harvest.

In China, wet weather during harvest damaged a substantial portion of the Chinese wheat crop, which likely result in China increasing wheat imports.

Excluding Russia and China, the world’s wheat stocks-to-use ratio is nearly the tightest on record. 

Drought has substantially reduced wheat supply in Argentina, Canada and Australia. 

Ukraine’s wheat harvest faces numerous delivery obstacles due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

North Africa will need more wheat imports this year and India’s ban on rice exports means greater demand for wheat.

         

Barrett to chair species at risk board

Ian Barrett of Vineland has been appointed to a three-year term as chairman of the Species at Risk Conservation Trust.

It administers the Species at Risk Conservation Fund and the board will invest in strategic, large-scale, and coordinated actions to support positive outcomes for certain species at risk.

Ash tree protection plan unveiled

The province is preparing plans to keep black ash trees following a disastrous number of losses to emerald ash borers.

The Endangered Species Act as it applied to black ash was suspended when the ash borer epidemic hit two years aqo; that suspension is due to expire Jan. 1.

The plan now is to lift the suspension on trees that have survived.

It would apply to:

• the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York
• the Municipalities of Central Manitoulin, Centre Hastings, Chatham-Kent, Gordon/Barrie Island, Marmora and Lake, and Tweed
• the counties of Brant, Bruce, Dufferin, Elgin, Essex, Frontenac, Grey, Haldimand, Huron, Lambton, Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, Manitoulin, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northumberland, Oxford, Perth, Peterborough, Prescott and Russell, Prince Edward, Simcoe, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, and Wellington
• the Townships of Admaston/Bromley, Assiginack, Billings, Burpee and Mills, Cockburn Island, Georgian Bay, Greater Madawaska, Horton, Jocelyn, Johnson, Laird, Limerick, Macdonald Meredith and Aberdeen Additional, McNab-Braeside, Madoc, St. Joseph, Stirling-Rawdon, Tehkummah, Tudor and Cashel, Tarbutt, Tyendinaga and Wollaston
• the Cities of Belleville, Kawartha Lakes, Ottawa, Quinte West, Hamilton, Sault St. Marie, Toronto and Thunder Bay
• the Towns of Arnprior, Gore Bay, Gravenhurst and Northeastern Manitoulin and Islands

A healthy Black Ash tree is one that appears to have survived exposure to emerald ash borers, remains in a healthy condition and has a trunk diameter at breast height of at eight centimetres.

 These trees are thought to have the greatest potential to support the recovery of the species, says the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Nova Scotia poultry processor getting $3 million

Eden Valley Poultry in Nova Scotia is getting almost $3 million from the Supply Management Processing Investment Fund to update its processing and wastewater facilities. 

Some of the investments will involve automation which will increase the plant capacity.

Eden Valley Is the only federally-inspected poultry plant in Nova Scotia, has been in operation since 2012 and processes fresh whole chicken boneless chicken breasts and frozen whole turkeys.

The plant is a joint venture of Maple Lodge Farms of Brampton and the province’s poultry producers.

The Supply Management Processing Investment Fund was set up by the federal government to compensate the poultry industry for import concessions made in trade deals with the United States, Europe and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

            -30-

Russia’s wheat is competition for Canada and U.S.

With Russian bombardments hampering exports from the Ukraine, Russia is now the major competitor for global wheat markets, and it has a bumper crop.

The wheat harvest in the U.S. has rebounded from two years of lesser harvests.

CoBank says in a report on the grain elevator business that they can look for a larger handle this year but they face the risk that global wheat prices may go up.

“Wheat stocks among major exporters are historically tight, and any disruption to the flow of Russian exports through the Black Sea could trigger a sharp price run-up,” CoBank said.

“The flood of cheap Russian wheat into the global market may have created a false sense of security in the world wheat market,” said Tanner Ehmke, grains and oilseeds economist for CoBank.

“The greatest margin risk to storing wheat is the shrinking world wheat crop outside of Russia and China, which leaves the market vulnerable to supply shocks and extreme volatility in wheat prices.” 

The cost of storing grains, including wheat, remains historically high due to the sharp rise in interest rates. 

That will pinch profits, particularly for the hard wheats, it said.

They can hope to offset that with higher prices for the grain they own.

The rebound in the U.S. wheat harvest was largely due to big increases in soft red winter wheat yields in the Midwest, where farmers produced the biggest crop in nine years. This year’s soft red winter wheat harvest rose 31 per cent from last year, said the United States Department of Agriculture.

In the Central and Southern Plains, production of hard red winter wheat lost significant yield under ongoing drought. Overall production rose 10 per cent from last year, according to USDA, mainly because more acres were harvested.

The hard red spring harvest in the Northern Plains is expected to be down seven per cent from last year despite expanded acreage. Late planting followed by persistent drought limited yields. 

A decline in Canadian hard red spring wheat production is expected to hold prices at a significant premium in the year ahead. 

Plenty of cheap Russian wheat combined with a strong U.S. dollar continue to be major headwinds for U.S. wheat exports, CoBank said.

Russia’s currency is down by 30 per cent from last year and is putting Russian exports on sale and pushing down world wheat prices. Russia is currently harvesting a near-record wheat crop with substantial carryover inventories from last year’s record-sized harvest.

In China, wet weather during harvest damaged a substantial portion of the Chinese wheat crop, which likely result in China increasing wheat imports.

Excluding Russia and China, the world’s wheat stocks-to-use ratio is nearly the tightest on record. 

Drought has substantially reduced wheat supply in Argentina, Canada and Australia. 

Ukraine’s wheat harvest faces numerous delivery obstacles due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

North Africa will need more wheat imports this year and India’s ban on rice exports means greater demand for wheat.

Inflation rate increases to four per cent

 

Canada’s inflation rate ticked up from 3.3 to four per cent in September, reports Statistics Canada.

Food prices increased by 6.9 per cent.

Gasoline went up for the first time in months, rising by 4.6 per cent from August and by 0.8 per cent compared with last year.

Prices for fruit, cereal and chicken rose at a slower year-over-year pace in August than in July; prices for frozen beef, coffee and tea and sugar and confectionary rose more rapidly.

In July the year-over-year increase was 8.5 per cent.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called on grocers to hold prices steady after Thanksgiving.

Big whoop! Canada's dominant supermarket chains traditionally promise to freeze prices from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

            

U.S. Senator targets meat-packer monopolies

Republican Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri has proposed legislation to “break up giant meatpacking and poultry monopolies” and if approved, could impact the hold JBS USA and Cargill have on the Canadian beef-packing industry.

He said the Strengthening Antitrust Enforcement for Meatpacking Act followed a Tyson Foods announcement that it planned to close its poultry plants in southern Missouri, affecting thousands of workers. 

His proposed bill would amend the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to set up “specific thresholds for market concentration and allow federal antitrust officials to more effectively prohibit or unwind acquisitions by meat companies that “concentrate the meatpacking sector."

"Today's meatpacking monopolists are making massive profits while shutting down competition," Sen. Hawley said.

 "Congress must give antitrust prosecutors the power to end anti-competitive behavior without lengthy court battles. It’s time to hold monopolies accountable and empower farmers."

In Canada, the government said this week it intends to give the Compeition Bureau more power to look into the financial records of the largest supermarket chains and intends to amend legislation to set a higher barrier when large companies want to buy smaller grocery chains and food companies.

What would really help is legislation to set caps on the percentage of the market that the three leading companies in any commodity or food-retailing and food distribution hold.

In cases where the three hold more than the cap, they should be forced to divest some of their holdings.

The biggest impact would be on egg grading and processing, chicken, turkey, beef and pork slaughter and processing and on Loblaws, Empire (Sobeys) and Metro.

            

Global economy shows strength

The global economy was stronger than expected in the first half of 2023, but the growth outlook is weak, inflation is proving persistent and there are significant downside risks, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook.

The outlook now is for three per cent growth this year and 2.7 per cent next year.

Although food and energy inflation have declined, they remain higher than governments’ targets. 

“Further significant stress in financial markets has been avoided so far, after the turbulence due to bank failures earlier in the year. That said, the global economy continues to cofront the challenges of elevated inflation, low growth and comparatively weak trade,”said OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann. 

He called for policy action to enhance competition, for increased investments in low carbon research and development and for reduced trade barriers.

The Outlook cautions that inflation could continue to prove more persistent than projected, with further disruptions to energy and food markets still possible.

“A further slowdown in China would dampen growth in trading partners worldwide and could drag down business confidence. Public debt remains elevated in many countries, in the aftermath of significant fiscal support rolled out in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy price crisis.

To confront inflation, the OECD says monetary policy should remain restrictive until there are clear signs that inflationary pressures are durably abating. 

As the effects of past hikes materialise, interest rates in many countries will likely need to remain at or close to their current levels into 2024, it said.

                           

 

 

Farmers push back on worker abuse accusations

 The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association is pushing back on accusations of slave labour on Canadian farms levelled by Tomoya Obokata, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, on a recent visit to Canada.

"I am deeply disturbed by the accounts of exploitation and abuse shared with me by migrant workers," said Obokata, in comments posted to the UN's official news website. 

"Employer-specific work permit regimes, including certain Temporary Foreign Worker programs, make migrant workers vulnerable to contemporary forms of slavery, as they cannot report abuses without fear of deportation."

Obokata, a Japanese scholar on human rights and international law, called on the federal government to safeguard workers' rights.

Bill George, chair of the OFVGA's labour section, said there is always room for adjustment but said Obokata's remarks were based on misinformation. He also objected to the comparison to slavery.

"Seasonal and temporary foreign workers are an essential part of local fruit and vegetable production in Ontario, and we do not support employers who mistreat or otherwise take advantage of people in their employ," said George.

"We recognize there is always more that can be done to ensure all workers have the opportunity for a positive and safe working experience while they are here, but assigning hateful and broad labels to all the hardworking farmers and their employees in the program is not the solution."

George added that growers who employ temporary foreign workers provide the same benefits as Canadian-born workers, such as competitive wages, access to healthcare through OHIP, federal employment insurance (EI), and others.

But Obokata said temporary foreign workers and Canadian farm workers are exempted from some federal and provincial regulations and protections.

The OFVGA said growers are required by law to provide workers with a copy of their rights and responsibilities, and farms are subject to frequent federal and provincial inspections.

A 24-hour multilingual telephone hotline is also available for workers who wish to raise concerns about their employment or working conditions.