Two PDCoV outbreaks in Middlesex County

 

Swine Health Ontario reports outbreaks of porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) at two farrow-to-finish operations in Middlesex County.

Loblaws profits keep on rising

 

Loblaws profits rose from $459 to $503 million for its first fiscal quarter this year.

Revenue came in at $14.1-billion, up from $13.6-billion last year.  

It is Canada’s largest supermarket business and has been the target of consumer anger about rising prices at a time when household budgets are pinched.

There was a failed attempt to launch a boycott.

Loblaws and Costco were holdouts, but eventually agreed to join an industry-wide agreement to improve relationships with suppliers who complained about being bullied.

U.S. trade deals said to be close

 

United States Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that trade deals are imminent between the Trump administration and foreign governments. 

“We have 100 countries that are knocking on the door, I believe. I’m not in the room, I’m not negotiating the trade deals, but my understanding is we should have several this week that are coming forward, that are very, very close,” she told CNN. 

“China is a very important one. Every day we are in conversation with China along with those other 99, 100 countries that have come to the table.”

“In agriculture, year upon year, decade upon decade, our goods have been taken advantage of,” she said. 

“The trade disparity: the non-trade barriers on top of the tariff numbers are insane, whether it’s Argentina or China or Brazil or the U.K. I could just go country by country with you and talk about how they treat our beef, what they do with our pork.”

In the past these issues were addressed within the World Trade Organization, but because things there have not satisfied the United States, it has become silent there. It has also failed to name people to panels that deal with disputes, so the World Trade Organization has lacked teeth to enforce agreed-upon terms of trade.

Trump appears to be successful in using tariffs to bully countries into accepting U.S. terms.

Trump rattles tariff sword again

 

United States President Donald Trump announced this week that he could re-impose reciprocal tariffs on certain countries within the next two to three weeks. 

The move, seen as a potential re-escalation of global trade tensions, could have significant implications for Canadian agriculture.

This development follows a temporary pause issued on April 9, when the Trump administration delayed the rollout of wide-ranging tariffs to give approximately 90 to 100 countries a 90-day window to negotiate. 

However, few concrete deals have been confirmed, and pressure is building on U.S. trade negotiators.

Without negotiated agreements, Trump warned tariffs could rise as high as 50 per cent for some nations—excluding China, where rates could reach up to 145 per cent. Currently, a 10 per cent universal tariff remains in place for most goods entering the U.S., with higher rates on select products.

 

Adding to the complexity, 12 U.S. states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that the tariffs are illegal and exceed executive authority. The coalition, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, is seeking to prevent Trump from implementing the tariffs without Congressional approval.

SwineEx website said the pork industry remains particularly sensitive to trade disruptions. Past tariff battles led to reduced access to critical export markets, increased domestic supply and falling producer prices.

The lower prices rippled across the Canadian market.

Other Canadian farmers that could be hard hit are greenhouse vegetable producers, canola growers, beef farmers and maple syrup producers.

Another plant-based company in trouble

Atlantic Natural Foods LLC of New Orleans has filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors to have time to re-organize its finances.

It produces Loma Linda and TUNO brand plant-based foods that imitate meat.

Above Foods of Saskatchewan owns 39.6 per cent of the shares and ANF Holdco LLC of New Orleans holds 60.4 per cent.

The three largest unsecured creditors are:

• Pataya Food Industries Ltd., which is owed $1.28 million;
• Nestle, owed $345,338; and

• Mid Atlantic Warehouse, owed $256,505.

AgriStability deadline now July 31

The deadline to apply for AgriStability has been extended three months to July 31.

The extension was announced just days before the original deadline.

 One of the first things new Agriculture Minister Kody Blois did was increase the limit for AgriStability compensation from 80 to 90 per cent and the maximum available from $1.5 to $3 million.

Those increases came in response to China’s tariffs on canola oil and meal and on peas.

U.S. backs down on salmonella

 

The U.S. government is scrapping a salmonella-control measure that has been under development for years.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today that it is withdrawing its most recent proposed rule and determination titled “Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products.

The framework sought to declare certain levels and serotypes of Salmonella in raw poultry products adulteratnts under the Poultry Products Inspection Act. It also proposed new microbial monitoring requirements, product sampling protocols and revised recordkeeping standards for poultry processing facilities.

In Canada they are declared adulterants and there has been a significant reduction of Salmonella-caused food poisonings from poultry products.

FSIS said it received more than 7,000 public comments, many of which raised concerns about the agency’s legal authority, the science underpinning the proposal, potential economic impacts and burdens on small processors. 

The agency said the feedback highlighted several issues that require further consideration.

Poultry processors have opposed the proposals.

Yet another dumb move from the Trumpers!

Wild boars in decline

Erica Charlton, director of the Emergency Management Division at Animal Health Canada, said the past 12 months have seen notable developments in surveillance and strategy for wild pigs since the inaugural Canadian Wild Pig Summit in 2024.

Aerial surveys were conducted across Saskatchewan to track wild pig populations.

More trail cameras were set up in Alberta to monitor activity and migration.

Drones were used in Ontario for hard-to-access areas.

James Hood of Assiniboine College sampled Environmental aimed at detecting wild pig presence or absence with minimal environmental disturbance.

Indigenous communities were invited to play a bigger role in the co-development of the Canadian Invasive Wild Pig Strategy.

These initiatives will be part of the discussion at the upcoming Canadian Wild Pig Summit II, April 29. 

Hosted virtually by Animal Health Canada, Squeal on Pigs Manitoba, and Manitoba Pork, the summit aims to provide an update on the evolving strategy, share surveillance data, and foster collaboration across provinces and stakeholders.

The electronic session begins at 8:30 Central Canada time.

Cardiff heads Farm & Food Care Ontario

 

Janelle Cardiff is the new chair of Farm & Food Care Ontario. She was nominated by Egg Farmers of Ontario and takes over from Crispin Colvin who was nominated by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

The members elected to the executive committee include vice-chair Nadine Schwandt, nominated by New-Life Mills division of Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd. and second vice-chair Nicki Scott, nominated by the Fruit & Vegetable Growers’ Association and the Ontario Potato Board.

 The treasurer is John Taylor, nominated by the Ontario Mutual Insurance Association.

The other board directors are Joe Hickson, nominated by the Ontario Seed Growers’ Association; Steve Lake, nominated by the Grain Farmers of Ontario; Quintin McEwen, nominated by the Ontario Sheep Farmers; Joost van der Heiden, nominated by the Beef Farmers of Ontario; Augusta Van Muyen, nominated by the Grape Growers of Ontario; Andrea Veldhuizen, nominated by Chicken Farmers of Ontario and ex-officio member Pete Overdevest, nominated by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

Environmentalists diss Ford’s species-at-risk proposals

 

Environmental groups are raising concerns about proposals to revamp species-at-risk policies.

Ecojustice Canada, Environmental Defence and the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada say Bill 5, also known as the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, would repeal Ontario's existing Endangered Species Act passed in 2007, and replace it with a significantly watered down version of the original act called the Species Conservation Act.

The legislation, introduced Thursday in the Ontario Legislature, has passed first reading.

Laura Bowman, staff lawyer for Ecojustice Canada, said "this won't speed up projects. It will be catastrophic for wildlife. What we're headed toward, if this bill goes ahead, is really just abandoning species protection."

Bowman said the bill narrows the definition of habitat for animals to mean only their dwelling place and the area immediately around it, as opposed to a broader area necessary for survival.

 

In a news release on Thursday, Ecojustice Canada said the legislation would gut environmental assessment processes, speed mining and infrastructure development and take a "register-first, ask-questions-later" approach that would allow developers to begin projects before their environmental implications are fully known.

 

The government has collected $3.4 million from developers for a fund to be invested in species protection, but none of it has been spent and the legislation would scrap that agency.

Pork packer settle with direct customers

Tyson Foods, Clemens Foods and Triumph Foods agreed to pay $64 million to settle claims the companies conspired to fix pork prices in an ongoing federal antitrust case, according to filings in a Minnesota court. 

Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs (DPPs) asked a federal court to preliminarily approve of the settlements. 

The proposed payments are $50 million from Tyson, $10 million from Clemens and $4 million from Triumph, bringing the total recovery for the DPP class to more than $180 million.

Data firm Agri Stats is the only remaining defendant. 

The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2018 and claimed the major pork producers conspired to fix prices through coordinated supply restrictions and information sharing in violation of federal antitrust laws. 

The court certified the class in 2023, covering certain pork products purchased directly between June 2014 and June 2018.

Erosion worries at Wilmot land assembly

 

Anne Loefler, a veteran at the Grand River Conservation Authority, is raising concerns about soil erosion from the 170-acre farm the Waterloo Region bought, reportedly for a new Toyota plant.

It is seeking 770 acres, but has yet to buy more than the one farm and a couple of residences.

Loeffler said she wrote to the Waterloo Region to report the soil erosion into two catchbasins that drain water into a stream leading to the Nith River.

Loeffler said she received no response after raising concerns that downstream water quality is threatened.

The Narwhal reported in February that the land assembly is for Toyota which has car assembly plants in Cambridge and Woodstock.

Chobani breaks ground for $1-billion plant

 

Chobani held a ground-breaking ceremony for a new $1-billion yogourt-producing plant at Rome, New York.

It will add capacity to the first plant it built, also in upper New York state.

It has another plant in Idaho.

At one time it wanted to build in Ontario, but marketing board politics prompted it to build in Idaho instead.

While the new investment at Rome is welcomed by most, dairy farmers expressed concerns about labour shortages that Chobani has met by employing immigrants.

How dangerous is Trump to Canadian agriculture

 Al Mussell and Douglas Hedley try to answer how dangerous United States President Donald Trump is for Canadian agriculture in the most recent report from the Canadian Agri-food Policy Institute.

Hedley wrote “the new U.S. administration is engaged in a wrenching struggle to deliver on promised tax cuts and deportations, in the face of already burdensome federal deficits and debt and an economy operating at full employment.

“What’s at stake is the potential for sharp changes in inflation, interest rates, currency valuations, and U.S.-international trade relations- and that could just be the beginning”. 

Mussell wrote ““the whirlwind emanating from Washington is resetting the table for Canada’s economic and trade relations with the U.S.

“We must assume that the policy resets the U.S. makes- from macroeconomic policy, to regulatory policy, to trade policy- will become the table stakes in its future trade and foreign policy discussions with Canada.  

“Many of these U.S. actions are driven by America First, and not intended to be in the Canadian interest.  We need to understand this in-depth, and determine how best we can respond.”

In their paper, they write “Canadian agri-food has much at risk in this environment, even if it is not an immediate target.”

They predict outcomes from the key changes so far.

Mass deportations will reduce the U.S.

workforce, and act to reduce gross domestic product.

The resulting reduction in will reduce

taxable income. Reduction in income tax rates

will further reduce revenue to the U.S.

Treasury.

This, combined with a commitment to deficit

reduction, will force a reduction in the federal

budget, complemented by directed

government cost cutting.

Another critical constraint is the federal debt

accumulated from past deficit financing, and

both the interest cost of the federal debt and a

ceiling on the level of federal debt.

Tariffs will raise public revenue, which will

act to counteract the reduction in income tax.

If the tariffs are successful in persuading industries bring production back to the U,S, it will eventually

increase gross domestic product.

The combination of reduction in workforce

and the tariffs will be inflationary. This could

force the Fed to increase interest rates,

strengthening the U.S. dollar. This will tend to

cool gross domestic product.

Increases in interest rates make the U.S. federal

debt more expensive to manage, and interest

costs will consume more of the federal budget.

A weakening U.S. treasury bill market has a

similar effect.

Retaliation against the U.S. tariffs will

counteract the increase in U.S. gross domestic product from

reshoring, and a stronger U.S. dollar will

exacerbate that effect, they write. 

They said the U.S. seems poised to seek increases in

efficiency through deregulation. The

prospects for this from fiscal perspective are

unknown- either directly in savings to

government, or indirectly through savings to

the private sector and increased gross domestic product and tax

revenue.

“There are reasonable worries that

deregulation could be carried out in an

indiscriminate manner filled with missteps,

overreach, and unforeseen effects.”

They say food inspection staff has been so reduced that the states will likely take over, but that raises questions about import inspections.

Measures about Chinese ships entering U.S. ports may prompt them to use Canadian and Mexican ports instead with implications for export traffic for Canadian agriculture commodities.

It also “suggestsnthat Canada and Mexico could be coerced into

aligning with the U.S. on its policy against

Chinese vessels- a worrisome precedent.”

The obvious threat to Canadian agriculture is the tariffs.

But if the economic chaos leads to hikes in U.S. interest rates, the Canadian dollar will decline making imports more expensive.

The inspection issue could force U.S. importers to pay for inspections to ensure that imports meet federal standards, but U.S. competitors would not have to meet those standards and pay those costs and would probably find state-level inspection more to their liking.

Whatever deregulation occurs in the .U.S, it is likely to

form the regulatory baseline that the U.S. brings to

international trade discussions, in the sense that

variances from U.S. regulations become viewed as

additional or discriminatory costs placed on exports

of U.S. product, Hedley and Mussell wrote.

“In turn, it suggests that pressure will be brought on

U.S. trading partners to harmonize regulatory

standards with the U.S.”

They wrote fFinally, it is evident that the situation in the U.S. is

entirely dynamic, and will be steadily and

unpredictably changing going forward. 

“Canada will necessarily be drawn into both responding to the U.S.

evolving demands, as well as Canada maintaining a

relationship with the rest of the world independently

rest of the world independently from the arrangements with the US. This may prove not an easy task.”

                      

 

Trump names agriculture trade negotiator

 

When Canada sits down to negotiate agriculture trade issues with the Trump administration, it will be across the table from Doug Hoelscher of Iowa.

He was director of intergovernmental affairs in the previous Trump administration.

He is likely to be a busy man since Trump has scores of countries with across-the-board 10 per cent tariffs.

But China will be the top concern because it retaliated against Trump’s tariffs with its own tariffs on corn, pork and soybeans that more than double costs for those commodities.

Hoelscher was previously chief operating officer at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), where in January, 2023,,he took over the Trump-aligned think tank’s American Leadership Initiative. 

The project was meant to build a “playbook” for each agency in the next administration to be “ready from day one with the right policy, personnel, and process,” Hoelscher said at the time.

Seniors complain about cracked eggs

A couple of senior citizens in British Columbia sparked a Canadian Food Inspection Agency investigation after they complained about cracked eggs they bought at a Shoppers Drug Mart store.

“We have been purchasing eggs at this location for years and experienced 1 or 2 cracked eggs occasionally which we attributed to mishandling. But over the past 6 to 8 months the number of cracks increased to 6 or 8 eggs per dozen which tells me that these eggs are not candled to eliminate cracks. Because cracked eggs are not fit for human consumption. I believe that an inspection of the facility is required,” they wrote.

The CFIA ended up taking no action because Loblaws and Burnbrae Holdings dismissed them as chronic complainers and said they found no problems with their eggs and that they stepped up automated crack-detection devices and tested eggs after transit from Winnipeg to a long list of Shoppers Drug Mart stores where their eggs are sold under the Island Gold brand name.

Milk inspections dropped in United States

The federal government has stopped testing milk qualify because the Trump administration fired too many employees in the Food and Drug Administration,

It is yet another blow to food safety programs. The troops led by Elon Musk got rid of 20,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services of which the Food and Drug Administration is a part.

Effective Monday, the agency suspended its proficiency testing program for Grade A milk and finished products, according to an email that a reporter has seen.

The testing program was suspended because FDA’s Moffett Center Proficiency Testing Laboratory, part of its division overseeing food safety, “is no longer able to provide laboratory support for proficiency testing and data analysis

Pastries on recall

 

 

Sweet Cream brand and D. Effe T. brand frozen pastries recalled due to Salmonella.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency identified the source after an outbreak of food poisoning.

There are 10 types of the product under recall in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta.

WTO decries tariffs

The World Trade Organization has reversed its forecast for global goods trade this year amid the sudden and historic tariff confrontation between the United States and China and warned that even worse impacts if postponed U.S. levies against other countries take effect.

The Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve issued dire warnings about their economies.

U.S. meat exporters are facing severe impacts from trade disruption, with 25 per of pork production, 15 per cent of chicken and 13 per cent of beef exported.

In January the World Trade Organization anticipated trade would grow by 2.7 per cent but now predicts in January 0.2 per cent.

In a statement, the organization said “severe downside risks exist” to the forecasts, including potential for President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on scores of countries to return in July after a 90-day pause. 

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that the “enduring uncertainty threatens to act as a brake on global growth.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell this week said that U.S. tariffs so far are “significantly larger” than expected. “The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” he said.

The Bank of Canada said it’s impossible to make predictions amid the current trade tension with the U.S., which has placed 25 per cent tariffs steel and aluminum and threatens 25 per cent on autos and auto parts.

It said that a negotiated removal of U.S. tariffs would allow a restoration of modest growth this year, while a longer global trade war would inflict both a significant recession and a spike in consumer prices.

Koch Foods files bid-rigging appeal

 

Koch Foods has filed an appeal against a class-action lawsuit saying its settlement with customers was for price-fixing, not bid-rigging.

Chief Judge Philip Brimmer found “by a preponderance of the evidence” that a bid-rigging conspiracy existed involving Pilgrim’s, Koch, Claxton Poultry, Tyson Foods, Mar-Jac and George’s Inc. 

In denying a motion for acquittal after a mistrial, Brimmer said a jury could reasonably find Koch’s William Kantola joined the conspiracy by 2014.

In a new filing in an appeals court, Koch Foods said restaurants — including Golden Corral, Church’s and Zaxby’s — opted to pursue their bid-rigging allegations as individual direct-action plaintiffs in a separate track of the litigation and were never part of the certified class that reached a $75 million settlement with Koch and House of Raeford Farms.

The class action, Koch said, focused solely on allegations that chicken producers conspired to reduce supply and inflate prices — not on bid rigging. 

The company argued the court properly excluded the restaurants’ claims from the settlement calculations and had no obligation to assign them value before granting final approval.

Economic analysis filed with the court found the restaurants paid 15 per cent more for chicken in 2015 than 2013 while market prices declined by 17.7 per cent.

Analyst Laurel Van Allen estimated damages of more than $118 million in 2015 alone — just one year of the alleged eight-year conspiracy.

The objectors argue that despite this evidence, the district court failed to consider the value of their bid-rigging claims when approving settlements with Koch and House of Raeford, focusing only on classwide supply reduction claims.

Koch is infamous for its multi-million-dollars funding of Republican Party activities.

Hatching chicken fertility declining

Broiler chicken fertility rates from eggs could decline to just 60 per cent by 2050 from the current average of 78.6 per cent according to the most recent data from the United States Department of Agriculture.

New research by Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Poultry Science published a scientific report saying that would significantly change the economics of chicken production and, ultimately, raise costs for consumers.

The trends have been a concern for the industry for years, however, the study is believed to be the first to take such a close examination of the data and to forecast possible outcomes. 

The broiler industry has seen “significant declines in essential production metrics, including hatchability, chick viability and production efficiency,” according to the analysis of data from the government’s National Agricultural Statistics Service from 2013 to 2022.

Among the points of concern, according to the research are declining fertility rates and high and rising consumer demand.]

To remain viable, the industry needs hatchability of 75 per cent, the report said.

As for demand, from 2013 to 2022 annual per capita chicken consumption increased from 82 to 101 pounds.

Chicken production increased from 18.85 to to 23.15 million tons.

                           

Roundup decision time coming

 

The future of Roundup is on the line as its owner, Bayer, ponders whether to end production.

Bayer mines elemental phosphorus in Soda Springs, Idaho, formulates glyphosate production in Muscatine, Iowa, and finishes the formulation and production in Luling, La.

“We have paid out over $10 billion in settlements, with no admission of fault or guilt. We stand behind the product. This is part of the litigation industry and the process that we have to make decisions around, said Jess Christiansen, head of crop science and sustainability communications for Bayer.

The company said a decision on Roundup will be made within months.

And now it is facing several class-action lawsuits in Canada.

Since Bayer’s predecessor, Monsanto, developed the glyphosate-containing Roundup and then genetically engineered corn and soybeans to survive its killing power, it has been one of the most-used weed killers in the world.

Now there are competitors who market glyphosate-containing herbicides, more crops have been engineered to survive fields sprayed with glyphosate, but more weeds are also evolving resistance.

Two PDCoV outbreaks

 

There have been two new outbreaks of porcine deltacoronavirus, both in nursery barns in Huron County.

There have now been four outbreaks this month, two of porcinedeltacoronavirus and two or porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.

Ontario has been hard hit this year while farmers in other prominent pork-producing provinces, such as Quebec and Manitoba, have kept the viruses out of their herds.

Terpstra and Murray lead pork board

Tara Terpstra, a pork producer from Huron County, has been acclaimed as chair of the board of Ontario Pork and TJ Murray of Oxford County was elected vice-chairman. 

It is Terpstra’s second term and Murray’s first.

Two new directors are Cassandra Van Engelen, elected as a board member at large, and Charlie Illick of Zone 3.

The other board members are Bruce Hudson, Karen Sanders, Tanya Terpstra, Philip Van Raay, and Jolanda Vandenbroek.

Two have retired Eric Schwindt and Arno Schober.

                           

 

 

Farmers say uncertainty the chief threat

 

Uncertainty is the top issue, a survey of 417 farmers doing more than $1 million worth of business has found.

Canada’s trade disputes with the United Strares and China have made market volatility the biggest risk to their business for 2025. 

At the same time, they recognize the need for improved education in finance, accounting and hedging strategies to help them achieve financial success.

In partnership with Stratus Ag Research, the Hebert Group commissioned the survey to assess the key risks facing farmers for the 2025 crop year and identify gaps in agriculture education. It also explored the role of government and policy. 

Thirty-three percent of farmers surveyed ranked volatile commodity markets as the top risk factor, followed by 31 per cent choosing environmental factors. 

When asked about the role of government, 38.8 per cent ranked the federal government’s international trade policies as the top threat to their business. However, they still look to the federal government for support when times are tough. 

Thirty-four percent of ranked income support programs and subsidies as the number one priority.

“Agriculture has a love-hate relationship with the federal government. I think what we’re seeing is that farms don’t trust the government to accurately represent and protect their interest on the world stage and in accessing international markets,” says Kristjan Hebert, president of the Hebert Group. “The lack of federal leadership for agriculture over the last decade is starting to show its colours. Our next government needs to do better so farmers don’t need to rely as much on subsidies.”

In the education category, farmers expressed a need for more education in areas of finance/accounting (56.6 per cent), marketing/hedging (48.7 per cent), and agricultural trades (47.7 per cent).

Evan Shout, co-founder and lead coach at Farmer Coach said there is clearly a need for more education in finance, accounting and hedging, but “we also need more people in agricultural trades, the ‘doers’ on the farm. It’s projected that 85,000 farm workers will retire over the next six years, and farmers are concerned about the looming labour gap.”

Prairie farmers are more concerned than those in other provinces about weather and environmental factors. Access to land is also a priority for the next generation of farmers in the prairies, while access to capital seems to be top of mind elsewhere.