Sixteen have been hospitaliized.
Quebec is hardest hit with 66 sick people and Ontario is second with 27.
The most recent recalls are baclava cheesecake and baclava, both sold at Fig and Greta at Collingwood, Halva-pistachio sold at Parallel Greary Ltd. in Toronto, Pistachio Matcha spread and sour cherries and pistachios covered in chocolate.
The contaminated pistachios are from Iran.
Several years ago a friend gave us pistachios he brought back from Iran; they were infested with worms.
A dairy farmer in the Clifford area has been fined $55,000 for operating an unlicenced dairy processing plant.
He was not in the courtroom for his trial.
When the victim surcharge is added, his total fine comes to $68,750.
He is on two years probation and has been ordered to comply with the Ontario Milk Act.
The Canadian Agricultural Review Tribunal has set aside a $11,000 fine against Stirling Farms of Gowanstown, Ont., that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency levied for loading a veal calf unfit for transport.
The tribunal found testimony by James Stirling and three witnesses was forthright and believable; they testified the calf was not lame when loaded.
Veterinarians agreed the calf had chronic osteoarthritis which was aggravated by transportation.
The fine was unusually high because Stirling Farms had been fined twice in the previous five years.
More than a million turkeys have been euthanized after outbreaks of highly-pathogenic avian influenza in the United States. They won't make it to Thanksgiving dinner tables.
And the flu has also claimed nearly two million hens in a flock in Oregon.
In Canada, there have been recent outbreaks in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and on two farms in Wellington County, Ont.
The total turkeys felled since the first confirmed turkey farm outbreak in late August in Faulk County, S.D., is now 1,090,700 from 26 farms in six states, according to the federal agriculture department.
The last seven weeks have seen confirmed cases across the country from 33 commercial poultry farms and 17 backyard flocks since Aug. 27 — 50 flocks in 44 days — following only a handful of isolated cases nationwide in the previous 90 days.
The renewed surge of HPAI coincides with autumn wild bird migrations.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has declared two outbreaks of avian influenza in Wellington County and has established a quarantine zone restricting poultry-industry traffic in an out of the zone.
There have been six outbreaks this month, one in Quebec, one in Saskatchewan and three in Alberta.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has unveiled a list of regulatory changes that make things easier for farmers.
“This package of regulatory changes is about building a regulatory environment that reflects and responds to the realities of today’s agriculture sector,” said federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald
The fruit and vegetable industry will no longer need to grade produce going into further processing.
Nor will they need to apply prescriptive labels.
There will be a reduction of traceability labelling requirements for hatching eggs and chicks to align with current industry practices.
The poultry industry will need to test hatching egg imports from the United States for Salmonella enteritidis.
Livestock import rules will be aligned with international standards or new science.
The import requirements for veal will be revised to provide increased flexibility.
Wheat yields and quality excellent this year, reported the Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN).
Wayne Metzger of Grey County had the second=highest yield at 170.1 bushels per acre.
The highest was 182,6 bushels at the Michigan farm of Nick Suwyn who also had the top yield last year.
Grain Farmers of Ontario is estimating yields will average about 100 bushels an acre this year and said there was very little DON, a fungus that produces a toxin especially worrisome for pregnant sows.
The New York Times reports there is a surge in demand and production of whey protein in the United States.
Production has increased from eight million pounds in all of 2023 to 48 million pounds the month of May this year, the newspaper reported.
The whey protein business is currently valued at anywhere from $5 to $10 billion per year, it said.
Experts project that this market will double in size within the next decade, fueled by an expected annual growth rate of 10 per. Cent or more for the foreseeable future..
This exponential demand is driven by a convergence of major health and lifestyle trends.
Improved technology has enabled the consistent production of high-protein whey and demand is rising due to an aging population advised by doctors to consume more protein to combat muscle loss, the rising popularity of diets emphasizing protein, and the explosive adoption of weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic.
Since these drugs cause significant muscle loss, patients are prescribed higher protein intake and weightlifting regimens, creating an enormous new market for whey products, the newspaper said.
The Royal Bank of Canada is offering $5 million over five years to entice university students to start technology businesses that help farmers.
The money will be used for training programs, work placements and other activities such as hackathons.
The money is sorely needed, said RBC agriculture policy lead Lisa Ashton. In a report released alongside the announcement, the bank said Canadian agriculture is not fully equipped to tackle climate change, trade volatility and rising costs because of a drought of fresh talent, capital and innovation.
As a result, Canada’s ranking in global agri-food trade value has slipped from fifth to ninth place since the early 2000s, while productivity growth has declined from two per cent to one per cent over the last 10 years.
But encouraging young talent to look toward agriculture is a solution, Ashton said.
“I think the big barrier is exposure to the agricultural sector. Within agriculture, everyone is passionate about the sector and champions it. But those outside are not aware.”
A broader initiative involving a number of universities and colleges will also expose students to entrepreneurial training, such as how to pitch a business to investors. This could help slow the agricultural startup drain to the United States where new businesses have more access to capital and mentorship.
It is Sustainable Food Systems for Canada network, or SF4C - a group of 13 universities and colleges that is trying to connect more than 10,000 students to agricultural work placements and other training opportunities in the sector.
Agri-food technology startups in the U.S. have received 94 per cent more investment than those in Canada over the past five years, the RBC report said.
“By creating incentives to reward innovative farmers, and equipping the next generation to be entrepreneurial problem solvers, we can work towards better national food security,” said Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph and co-chair of SF4C.
And funding from public and private institutions is key, Ms. Ashton said.
Government spending on agricultural knowledge generation has dropped 15 per cent since 2010, falling behind the U.S., Japan, Australia and Brazil, according to the RBC report.
Government funding for research and development on agriculture in universities is down 77 per cent across the past five years, the report said.
Fresh talent is needed to reverse the trend, Ashton said.
“We need deep expertise that not only understands the landscape, but also understands how to apply it to the agricultural sector.”
The national agency for chicken supply management has set an aggressive target of five per cent above base quota for the first six-week production cycle in January.
Ontario’s increase is 5.1 per cent.
Chicken Farmers of Canada said “Demand for chicken continues to be strong. This is supported by competing meat prices, steady per capita consumption and overall positive economic indicators.”
Tyson Foods is paying $55 million and Cargill$ 32.5 million to settle a federal class-action lawsuit alleging they conspired to inflate U.S. beef prices by limiting supply.
It is the first consumer settlement in the beef price-fixing lawsuit that was filed in 2019.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys estimate the class includes about 36 million consumers who indirectly purchased beef products such as chuck, loin and ribs between August ,2014, and December, 2019, ,from retailers including Walmart and Costco. The retailers are not defendants in the case.
Under the settlement terms, Tyson and Cargill agreed to cooperate with consumers pursuing claims against the remaining defendants, JBS USA and National Beef Packing, which have denied wrongdoing. An expert for the plaintiffs estimated total consumer damages at $1.9 billion.
The beef settlement follows Tyson’s separate $85 million deal last week resolving similar allegations in the pork industry.
Six students have been awarded $15,000 scholarships under Hensall Co-op’s Bright Futures program.
The winners are:
-Aaron Feddes of Goderich, who will attend Lakehead University to study animal science technology as part of a dairy science major.
-Jack Van Loon of Dublin, is attending the University of Guelph for food and agricultural business.
-Julie Wein of Exeter, is studying honours health science at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.
-Nicole McBride of Exeter, a former Hensall Co-op summer intern, attending Olds College in Alberta studying agribusiness.
-Owen Littlejon of St. Marys is at Western University in London studying food and agricultural business.
-Kyle Dodge of Strathroy is beginning electrical engineering studies at Western University.
The Canadian Food inspection Agency has suspended the licence of Mehadrin Meat of Montreal.
Mehadrin is the highest level of kosher meat standards and the company has been in business since1951.
The CFIA wrote in a media post that the company failed to comply with eight regulations under the Safe Food for Canadians Act.
There have been no product recalls.
The company holds its CFIA licence under 7164220 Canada Inc. and if you want to know who that is, the CFIA will not answer and will tell you too look it up in the Canadian business directory.
The monthly survey of farmers’ financial mood finds they are holding steady.
The survey is conducted by Purdue university with support from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Seventy per cent of farmers in the United States said they believe farm policies are headed in the right direction. That's no change from August.
For three months in a row, farmers expectations for profits this year declined slightly by three points to 88.
The survey on expectations for farmland prices fell for the fourth month in a row, this time by six points to 106.
The overall combined index rose one point to 126 – i.e. no real change.
The Ontario government has announced it will spend $10.5 for a poultry research centre to be built at the Elora Research station.
It previously announced a $13.5-million investment in the centre, so the total is now $24 million.
What happened to the previous boasting that supply-management commodities get no government subsidies?
The poultry research centre will join new facilities built there in the last decade for swine, beef and dairy research.
Agriculture Research and Innovation Ontario is also investing $15.5 million for the new Ontario Feed Innovation Centre at the Elora
Research Station to provide micro-scale nutritional research for swine, poultry, small ruminants and aquaculture.
It will also contribute towards repairs and upgrades to the Dairy
Education Centre at the Ridgetown campus.
The government also announced it intends to invest $41 million with ARIO over the next 10 years.
Lovhill Sidekick Kandy Cane was chosen Grand Champion Holstein at the World Dairy Expo in Wiscomsin.
She came in second to a red-and-white Holstein for Supreme Champion of all dairy breeds.
Lovhill also bred the Grand Champion Holstein in 2015. The farm is owned by Michael and Jessica Lovich of Lovholm Holsteins at Balgonie, Sask.
Kandy Cane is now owned by Alicia and Jonathon Lamb of Oakfield, New York.
Ferme Jacobs from Quebec won premier breeder for animals it bred and were shown by others. It did not bring any of its owned animals to the show.
Go-Sho Detect Revenge-ET won the spring heifer class for Pierre Boulet from Quebec and Clarkvalley Holsteins from Ontario.
Clarkvalley also won the winter heifer class with Petitclerc Jerry Adine and were second in the fall heifer class with Sco-Lo Legendary-ET.
Maple Hill Auctions will hold its first Holstein auction in 49 years on Oct. 8.
The Best of Bruce-Grey Holstein Consignment Sale is at Maple Hill Auctions on Highway 4 between Hanover and Walkerton.
Dairy sales consultant Steve Anderson said "Maple Hill hasn’t had a dairy sale there since 1976. While most Holstein auctions are online these days, people are genuinely excited about having a live auction again.
"Dairy farmers across Grey and Bruce have been asking what to do with their extra animals" he said. "There doesn’t seem to be as many livestock dealers on the road anymore, so we decided to bring the sale back."
The event will feature a wide range of cattle, from deep-pedigree animals to commercial stock. Anderson adds that longtime auctioneers Glenn "Smiley" Sinclair of Flesherton and Dave Johnson of Listowel will help lead the sale.
Creditors of an ostrich farms whose 300 birds are in detention want to grab any money the Canadian Food Inspection Agency pays the farm.
"It's a very unique situation here at the moment," said Steven Cope, a lawyer for a pair of Fort St. John businessmen who obtained a $140,000 judgment against Universal Ostrich last May.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency wants the birds destroyed because highly-infectious avian influenza has been detected in the flock. It has been standard procedure to euthanize any infected flock and millions of Canadian birds have been sacrificed over the last several years.
The farm’s owners have filed an application to have their case taken up by the Supreme Court. They have lost challenges in lower courts. The flock is being held by the CFIA pending the outcome of the farm’s appeal.
"The only [asset that can be levied or taxed] that they have are two-legged animals that are under quarantine facing a death penalty. It's a very rare situation," the lawyer said.
Cope's clients are among three creditors who have sued Universal in the past two years.
Rudi George and Roman Stadler, who are together one of the creditors — sued Universal Ostrich Farms last February in relation to a deal for $126,399 worth of ostriches. They claim to have received only $5,000 in return.
According to B.C. Supreme Court documents, another creditor, David Goranson, sued Universal in August 2023 over repayment of a $60,000 loan issued the previous year to "fund the operation and expansion" of the business.
Goranson obtained a judgment for more than $80,000 against Universal Ostrich in May 2024.
"It is unclear to Goranson why this obligation has not been met," Goranson's lawyer said in a statement to CBC News.
"And it is frustrating to him that the judgment is not being paid."
The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) recently honoured 35 winners of Foodtech Frontier, dedicated to celebrating food industry transformers focused on sustainability, food security, health or supply chain efficiency.
“Our country is also home to some of the most forward-thinking food innovators in the world,” said CFIN’s chief executive officer Dana McCauley. “With Foodtech Frontier, we’re supporting the growth of these companies to strengthen our economy, create new jobs and feed more people in a sustainable way.”
As part of the awards program, Redstick Ventures awarded $100,000 each to Cubbi and Dispension, providing a total of $200,000 in catalytic funding to accelerate their growth and impact.
Cubbi is an all-in-one foodservice platform. Dispension market automated kiosks for canned beer and ready-to-drink beverages.
Collectively, these companies are already delivering $440 million in total sales, have invested $35 million in R&D over the past year, employ 1,763 people, and have raised $256 million to date, the network said in a news release.
“These metrics highlight the role of Canadian foodtechventures as economic drivers that invest in innovation and create jobs, positioning the sector as a key contributor to Canada’s competitiveness in the global food economy.”
The winners honoured at an event at the University of Guelph are:
CoBank has a discouraging report for grain farmers in the United States.
A bumper crop is heading into harvest, storage space is so tight that much will be dumped on ground beside stuffed elevators and a trade dispute with China has kept it out of the market.
But there is some good news: grain sales continue strong with corn up 94 per cent and wheat sales up by 41 per cent.
Soybean sales are down by 51 per cent from this time last year.
Global food prices have declined by nearly 20 per cent since March, 2022, but were 3.4 per cent higher than a year ago, reports the United Nations.
Its overall Food Price Index declined by seven-tenths of a per cent in September, with the sub-indices for cereal, dairy, sugar, and vegetable oil indices outweighing the rise in meat prices.
The Meat Price Index, one of five commodity sub-indices, has risen uninterrupted since February.
The meat index averaged 127.8 points in September, an increase of 0.9 points from the revised August level. For the last 12 months, the index is up 6.6 per cent or 7.9 points.
Beef prices continue to break record highs while pork and poultry prices were “largely stable,” the September report said.
Wellington County has launched a new guide for farmers who are looking to set up transition plans for their operations.
It said only 276 of about 1,000 farmers expected to retire in the next 10 years have transition plans.
Wellington County’s new program offers families a practical planning guide: ‘Your Farm, Your Future’. It includes structured questions, real-life scenarios, and specific advice for families with and without identified successors. Hard copies can be requested online or accessed digitally.
It is also offering an online course in partnership with Loft32. Farmers can access Farmers’ Bridge which includes two professionally developed courses: ‘Transition Foundations’ and ‘Transition Communications’. Courses are valued at $250 but are free until April 2026 for the first 100 participating Wellington County farms.
The county is also offering three In-person workshops at the Grandway Event Centre beside the Elora racetrack and casino.
They will be led by expert facilitators including Maggie Van Camp and Patti Durand of Brightrack. Topics include starting the transition process, navigating communication challenges, and redefining leadership roles during succession.
"Farms are the backbone of our community, and the decisions made in the next few years will shape our agricultural landscape for generations," said county councillor Jeff Duncan, chairman of the economic development committee.
"Whether families are passing farms down to the next generation, selling to employees, or seeking outside buyers - a clear transition plan protects their legacy and strengthens the future of agriculture."
All resources can be accessed at wellington.ca/transitionplanning.
Two people are dead after a pickup truck crashed into a tractor near Drayton.
Eighth line in Mapleton Township was closed while police investigated.
The tractor driver suffered minor injuries.
The crash happened Friday night.
British Columbia has ordered its poultry farmers to keep their flocks indoors this fall to keep them from being infected with avian influenza carried by migrating birds.
Since mid-December the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has reported four commercial poultry flocks in Alberta have been infected and one in Quebec.
There have been a number of outbreaks in the United States plains below Western Canada, including tens of thousands of turkeys.
Chatham-Kent municipal council will be dealing with two wind-farm proposals near Kempfville when it meets on Monday.
Crossfield Wind, also known as Capstone Infrastructure, wants to construct a 110 Megawatt (MW) farm with 15-18 wind turbines northeast of Ridgetown.
If approved the municipality would receive $15.4 million in community benefits to be used for community purposes and distributed at the sole discretion of the municipality. The project would take until 2030 to complete.
Botany Wind, also known as EDF Power Solutions, is also seeking community support to build a 100 MW project with 15-18 turbines northwest of Ridgetown by 2030.
Botany Wind would provide $14 million for community capital infrastructure.
Both wind farms need to complete an Agricultural Impact Assessment.
Gusta is trying to replace Yves products after that Canadian plant-protein company was recently shut down by owner Hain Celestial Group.
Gusta is a Quebec company. President Martin Valiquette is talking to grocery stores, offering to make products similar to those made by Yves.
“We went strategically and found we were able to meet demand for three [of the recently discontinued] lines,” he said.
He is offering customers four types of deli slices, mince and burger patties.
“We're going to make you a product that's as similar as possible so that the consumer can rediscover the taste of that No. 1 [seller],” Valiquette said. “We don't rejoice in other people's misfortune, but it certainly gives Gusta a boost.
“We weren't ready for it, but we quickly turned around to be ready,” he told La Presse.
China’s tariff of 78.5 per cent on Canadian canola and its ban on canola from Australia because of blackleg disease may backfire as its domestic production comes up short.
The United States Department of Agriculture said China’s rapeseed crop might be vastly smaller than official estimates.
“Private sector contacts continue to maintain that China’s actual rapeseed production may be considerably lower than Beijing’s official number based on their estimates of the operational pace and capacity of crushing plants in their respective regions,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service said..
One leading industry source estimates that China’s rapeseed production is 12.4 million tonnes, far short of the Chinese government’s estimate of 17.1 million tonnes, the U.S. report said.
China’s anti-dumping duty on Canadian canola is under extended review. It was imposed after Canada hit Chinese-made electric vehicles with a 100 per cent anti-dumping tariff.
Farm Credit Corporation reports that Ontario farmland prices were flat over the first half of this year, but nation-wide prices were up by six per cent.
Prices increased the most in Manitoba and New Brunswick.
British Columbia prices were also flat.
“Demand for farmland remained strong in the first half of the year regardless of lower commodity prices,” said FCC chief economist J.P. Gervais.
“Overall, the market appears to be stabilizing,” the FCC said.
The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Agency has dismissed Kerry Wright eight weeks after she was hired as executive director.
She will not be replaced until the board of directors tries out its new collaborative approach to manage the large and diverse organization that not only answers to its members, but also to federal and provincial governments which have chosen it to deliver some programs, mainly related to soil and water conservation and management.
Wright took over from a board member Brady Jones who held the boss position after Ahley Honsberger took over in September, 2023, from veteran Andrew Graham who left two years ago.
Weeks prior to Wright taking on her role, three senior managers were simultaneously removed from the organization.
None of them have been replaced.
Gone are Sara Lin Barnes, head of programs, and Angela Straathof, director of research and knowledge transfer, and the director of client services.
Past president Tom Oegema said the board has been working on the new management structure for more than a year.
Wright came to OSCIA with a strong track record with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, the Canadian Agri-food Automation & Intelligence Network (CAAIN) and Mallot Creek Group where she provided strategic advice to the food, beverage and agri-food industries.