Alcohol sales sliding

 

CoBank reports that alcohol sales are declining, but young people are drinking more zero-alcohol beverages.

The trend toward non-alcoholic beverages and their rapid growth in sales is prompting considerable innovation in the space, said Billy Roberts, food and beverage economist with CoBank. 

Last year global wine consumption fell to its lowest level since 1961, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. 

Wine consumption in the United States declined by 5.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, virtually all alcohol beverage categories have seen competitors enter the market offering low-alcohol or non-alcoholic beverages, with beer alternatives proving most successful. 

Non-alcoholic beer purchases among U.S. buying households increased by 22 per cent from December 2023 to November 2024, according to consumer research firm Circana. 

Nearly half of Americans are trying to drink less alcohol in 2025, with the number markedly higher among younger generations, Roberts said.

A quarter of American adults report drinking no alcohol last year. 

While alcohol is out, pot is in.

Roberts said the market for cannabis-infused beverages shows significant potential and are projected to reach $2.8 billion by 2028.

Two vice-chairs appointed

 

Barry Raison of Lyn and Debra Backstein of Toronto have been appointed to two-year terms as vice-chairs of the Animal Care Review Board.

Raison is a journalist who has served on the Ontario Parole Board since 2020.

Backstein is a civil litigation lawyer.

The board is a quasi-judicial tribunal that hears appeals from individuals from whom animals have been seized or to whom orders have been issued under theProvincial Animal Welfare Services Act.

DTN buys Grain Discovery

DTN has bought Grain Discovery of Pickering.

Grain Discovery, founded in 2018, can be used by grain buyers to find out where it has come from.

The deal means DTN is scrapping all the traceability systems it has been using and replacing them with Grain Discovery software.

The deal expands Grain Discovery’s market.

DTN is a global company serving agriculture and transportation companies with information, including weather.

Ear tags that melt away

 

Alterra Innovation of Steinbach, Man., has developed an ear tag for pigs that melts away in scalding hot water used in packing plants.

The traditional tags used for the Pig Trace program need to be cut off by packing plant staff.

Inventor Ellery Burton said his biodegradeable ear tags are safe and keep plastics out of landfills and the environment.

They could also be used for cull sows and other livestock, he said.

Carney says it’s a new world

 

The world of trade based on rules and gradually relaxing protectionism is gone and it’s the biggest global shift since the fall of the Berlin Wall, 

Prime Minister Mark Carney told a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation group in South Korea.

He said that’s why Canada is embarked on a mission to double its exports to countries other than the United States.

Also at the conference, he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and they agreed to meet again to rebuild relationships that have been strained for the last seven years.

Carney will no doubt be pushing for the Chinese to drop new tariffs on canola and peas and  Xi Jinping will probably want Canada to lower its 100 per cent tariff on electrical vehicles.

Another issue is China’s interference in Canadian elections. That’s also an issue with India.

Manitoba pork leader urges calm

 

Manitoba Pork general manager Cam Dahl is urging calm to relieve trade tensions with the United States.

He was commenting in the context of an advertising campaign launched by Ontario Premier Dourg Ford. It so angered United States President Donald Trump that he broke off trade negotiations with Canada.

Dahl said bluster and rhetoric coming from north of the border, to be really quite blunt, isn’t always helpful.

He said it makes things more difficult for our allies in the United States, and we have those.

He said some of the public commentary is not all that positive all the time but, when you sit down across the table from farm leaders in the U.S., from state politicians for example, elected officials, that there’s a good understanding of the value of this partnership.

He said good relations are important for the upcoming review of the trade deal among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico and said maintaining trade benefits both farmers and consumers.

Dahl said. “I think, to steal a line from medicine, it’s do no harm and that’s the primary objective of going into the review and potential renegotiations.”

Thieves steal whipped cream

 Thieves stole whipped cream valued at $80,000 and the trailer worth about $50,000 from Gay Lea in Guelph.

They were stolen at 4:30 a.m.

A year ago Guelph police were investigating seven butter thefts from grocery stores.

In April a man was charged for those thefts.

China agrees to resume buying U.S. soybeans

 

China will buy $12 million worth of soybeans from the United States this crop year and $25 million worth over the next three years.

United States treasury secretary Scott Bessent said other countries in Southeast Asia have agreed to buy another 19 million tons of U.S. soybeans, but did not specify a timeframe for those purchases.

China’s purchase is a small part of an agreement to drop the recent tariffs and trade barriers both countries imposed to punish each other.

India hits Canadian peas with 30 per cent tariff

India has imposed a 30 per cent duty on yellow pea imports with a bill of lading date on or after Nov. 1, 2025.

China imposed a 100 per cent tariff when it also hit canola in response to Canada’s 100 per cent tariff on electrical vehicles 

Saskatchewan Agriculture reported that pea prices have plunged by 34 per cent.

They are now so cheap that some are being sold as livestock feed where prices for corn and feed wheat are down as the United States harvests a bumper corn crop.

Chapman’s is the world’s best ice cream maker

Chapman’s is the world’s best ice cream maker, according to the International Ice Cream Consortium which made the announcement during its conference in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Companies from 14 countries were in the competition.

The judging criteria included contributions, participation, and product quality. 

Chapman’s also earned praise in the Most Innovative Ice Cream for its “Sweetgrass” flavour, developed in collaboration with Indigenous chef Zach Keeshig, 

Peggy Chapman, chief operating officer, said “every company within the IICC is a true master of their trade. Knowing how strong other ice cream makers are … I am especially proud of this recognition from the international ice cream community."

“This international recognition means that Indigenous food and culture are being recognised on a worldwide platform now,” said Chef Zach Keeshig.

Wellington County wins $105,000 grant

 

Wellington County has won $105,000 in federal funding to develop Weather-Ready Wellington, a new climate adaptation plan aimed at protecting local infrastructure and strengthening community resilience.

County Climate Change and Sustainability Manager Karen Chisholme said the plan will assess risks and develop strategies specific to Wellington’s rural and agricultural needs, with public engagement opportunities set for 2026.

Warden Chris White said the initiative builds on the County’s existing Future Focused climate plan, which targets net-zero emissions by 2050. The new plan will focus on adapting to rising temperatures, stronger storms, and other local climate impacts.

Rabobank has advice for hog farmers

 

Rabobank has advice for hog farmers: be cautious about expanding production next year and focus on productivity.

In general, it expects the global pork markets to hold steady.

But for farmers that spells less profit potential as costs, mainly feed, continue to rise.

Rabobank said:

·       The global sow herd is projected to decline in 2026 as many producers postpone expansion despite favourable margin environments.

·       Global pork trade has grown modestly but remains under pressure from evolving export dynamics and disease-related disruptions.

·       Price dynamics are diverging by region: tighter inventories in Europe and North America are driving price increases, while China is experiencing a steep drop due to efficiency gains and inventory rebuilding.

·       Across the board, the priority is shifting from scale expansion to operational efficiency—feed conversion, carcass yield, stronger biosecurity and logistical improvements are now front-of-mind.

Danes subsidize pig tails

 

Denmark is offering 50 Kroner (about 10.65 Cdn) to farmers who do not dock pig tails.

And Spain has changed its stocking-density regulations to allow farmers who do not dock tails to have higher density.

There is also some relaxation for farmers who practice some tail docking combined with enhanced animal welfare protocols.

Dairy Farmers of Ontario launches appeal to emotions

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) marketing board has launched a new advertising campaign that appeals to feel-good emotions instead of past campaigns that emphasized milk’s quality, nutrition and family farmers.

This campaign, called Milk Means Care, says good parenting involves feeding the family milk and dairy products.

“Central to the campaign’s success is its authentic and relatable depiction of family dynamics. Instead of focusing solely on the farm or the product itself, the platform uses genuine, emotional scenarios to illustrate milk as a silent partner in daily caregiving,” said the creators at the DDB advertising agency.

“This shift is crucial for the agribusiness sector, as it addresses the growing consumer demand for products that align with deeper values, using empathy to establish long-term brand loyalty. The emotional anchor provided by the “Milk Means Care” message strengthens the perceived value proposition beyond simple commodities,” it said.

Pure hokum!

The campaign buys spots on radio, television and social media.

CFIA undertakes safety blitz

 

The Globe and Mail reports that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is conducting a safety blitz following a scathing report on its handling of an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes food poisonings linked to Silk milk-imitation products made at the Joriki plant at Pickering last year.

The inspector general’s report said the way the CFIA scheduled inspections was flawed because many facilities were skipped based on a computer algorithm the CFIA relied on.

The Globe and Mail was instrumental in bringing the CFIA failures at the Joriki facility to light. It lost its contract to make Silk for Danone, a global dairy company based in France.

In addition to the safety blitz, the CFIA will be requiring the approximately 8,000 facilities it licences to conduct more food-safety tests and to keep more food safety records.

It's all reminiscent of the 1970s when I reported about failures in CFIA meet inspection, the agency's vice-president said they had their head stuck in the sand until the news reports brought the deficiencies to the attention of the public and the CFIA leadership promised to reform. Never really did.

Cattlemen ask Ottawa to scrap U.K. trade deal

 

The Canadian Cattle Association is lobbying the federal government to scrap an interim trade deal with the United Kingdom and to start over again.

Its appeal comes while the government is pushing a bill in the House of Commons to accept the interim deal which came after the United Kingdom left the European Union and its trade deal with Canada.

The cattlemen say the United Kingdom is not playing fair on beef trade, using two non-tariff standards to block Canadian beef from its market. 

They are the Canadian allowance for farmers to use growth-promoting hormones and beef packers to use an antibacterial wash on carcasses.

Canada insists that science has found both to be safe and effective, but neither the United Kingdom nor the European Union will budge.

Rubbing salt in the wound is the permission for United Kingdom beef to come into the Canadian market.

Beans donated to Guelph Food Bank

Bean breeder Mohsen Yoosefzadeh Najafabadi of the University of Guelph is donating culled beans to the Guelph Food Bank and to the United Way.

He plants about 100,009 beans per year and keeps only a few of the best for continued breeding.

His team grows many different kinds of beans, including navy, cranberry, black, kidney, pinto and adzuki beans.

Guelph Food Bank CEO Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy said the donation comes at a time where more people are needing their services.

"We've gone up over 37 per cent since January in the number of people that need to come through to get food, mostly due to the cost of living and the cost of groceries," McLeod-McCarthy told CBC News.

"When it comes to proteins we're also looking for nutritional proteins and culturally appropriate foods, so this works out really well."

Grain fees frozen

 

The Canadian Grain Commission has frozen its fees until 2028 because it has enough money in its reserves to run operations.

Chief Commissioner David Hunt said “we recognize the grain sector is going through a period of economic stress and want to do our part to keep costs down while ensuring we continue to deliver results to producers and industry.”.

The CGC expects to use $101 million in reserve funding from 2021 to 2028 to cover the shortfall the fees leave behind.

Beef under recall

 

Ground beef, hamburger and beef fat sold at Pistachios Quality Meats & Groceries, 1695 Wonderland Rd. N, London, are under recall because it might be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7  food-poisoning bacteria.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said no illnesses have been reported as linked to these products.

Hayes re-appointed dairy chair

 

Jennifer Hayes has been appointed to a second four-year term as chair of the Canadian Dairy Commission, one of the most powerful positions in Canada’s dairy industry.

The commission sits on top of national milk supply management, dictates prices for milk processed into dairy products and keeps watch on dairy imports and exports.

She began with the Canadian Dairy Commission as a commissioner in 2017 and was elevated to chair in December, 2021..

Hayes is a third-generation beef and dairy farmer at PineCrest Farms in Shigawake, Quebec.

She co-owns the farm with her father and uncle.

She is a Master of Business graduate from Concordia University, is actively engaged in rural development initiatives within her region and gained governance experience through her work with L’Union des Producteurs Agricoles.

Plasma cuts pig sicknesses

 

 

Sprinkling two grams of spray-dried plasma (SDP) on top of every ration a hog eats is an effective way to counter bacterial diseases, according to a recent scientific trial to determine the effctivenesss of the practice common in Brazil.

The 998-day trial was conducted on 1,526 pigs on a finishing ration.

It reduced bacterial diseases by 77 per cent.

 

Metric	Control	SDP (2g/d)	Improvement
Mortality per pen (number)	1.08	0.25	-77%
Mortality (%)	3.39	0.78	-77%
Tulathromycin injections/pen	0.75	0.13	-83%
Total medications/pen	1.70	1.11	-35%

United Kingdom rules rile Canadian beef farmers

The United Kingdom has refused to budge on two non-tariff trade barriers it uses to keep Canadian beef out while its beef sales to Canada soar.

The Canadian Cattle Association is complaining to Ottawa, saying it should pressure the United Kingdom by keeping it out of the 

Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement on trade.

The Canadian Cattle Association told Ottawa said the United Kingdom should first allow Canadian beef into its market based on science that reports that using a peroxyacetic acid wash on carcasses to eliminate E. coli food-poisoning bacteria is safe and effective and that hormone additives that improve beef production efficiency and carcass quality are safe.

The National Cattle Feeders’ Association, the Canadian Pork Council and the Canadian Meat Council support the Cattle Association lobby.

“In July 2023, the Government of Canada announced the accession of the U.K. to the CPTPP (Comprehensive Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreement,” the CCA’s recent release reads. “CCA, our provincial members, and beef producers across the country urged Canada to ‘say no to a bad deal.’

“Since then, the U.K. has not made any effort to address the non-tariff barriers that are keeping Canadian beef out of the U.K. market. At the same time, U.K. beef imports into the Canadian market have increased from $16.6 million in 2023 to $42.5 million in 2024.”

“In addition, the U.K. refuses to recognize full systems approval for our meat hygiene system, which is recognized as world class,” the association said.

Popeye’s franchisee in trouble

 

Irfan Memon has lost seven franchises for  Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen  restaurants in the Toronto area and another seven have been shut down in a receivership.

Memon employees raised allegations of unpaid wages leading to receivership with debts of about $10.8-million.

Memon, is also a major defendant in a lawsuit filed in May against Popeyes, its parent company Restaurant Brands International Inc.  and Toronto-area franchisees. 

Companies controlled by Memon operated seven out of 27 locations listed in that lawsuit, in which a former poultry supplier to Popeyes, ADP Direct Poultry Ltd., accused the restaurants of buying “unsafe” meat from an unauthorized supplier. 

The allegations have not been tested in court, and Restaurant Brands has said, most recently in July, that it found no evidence of those claims.

Despite that disclaimer, shortly after ADP’s lawsuit was filed, Restaurant Brands raised questions with Mr. Memon’s companies about where his restaurants were buying their meat.

In a notice of termination of their franchise agreement, sent on Sept. 18, Popeyes stated that it had advised Memon’s companies in June of “significant discrepancies” between the quantity of chicken the restaurants were buying from approved suppliers and the quantity of chicken that they sold. 

The notice said the franchisee had not provided “sufficient or satisfactory” explanation of those discrepancies.

U.S. announces beef rebuild plan

United States Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins unveiled the government’s promised and Trump-touted plan to rebuild the beef industry, but ranchers and packers were far from thrilled by the modest proposals.

“At USDA  (United States Department of Agriculture) we are protecting our beef industry and incentivizing new ranchers to take up the noble vocation of ranching,” Rollins said. 

“Today, USDA will immediately expedite deregulatory reforms, boost processing capacity, including getting more locally raised beef into schools, and working across the government to fix longstanding common-sense barriers for ranchers like outdated grazing restrictions.”

 

For the third prong — “Building Demand Alongside Domestic Supply” — the document states only that school nutrition programs will be encouraged to use locally grown foods including beef, and the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) will be released by Dec. 31.

For packers, the big-ticket promise is no overtime for meat inspectors staffing relatively small packing plants.

For deregulation, the main promise relates to leases on government lands, but the details will come in mid-November.

And Brooke said her officials will set up meetings to listen to farmers and ranchers concerns and ideas.

The U.S. beef herd has hit an historic low, cattle prices set records, packers are losing money and retail beef prices are high.

To encourage young people to take up ranching, Brooke announced that USDA’s Risk Management Agency is widening the availability of premium subsidies to newer ranchers.

But the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said it cannot support the Trump administration as long as it relaxes import controls on beef  from Argentina.

Trump gets pushback on beef plans

 

United States President Donald Trump is getting pushback from his own party politicians from leading beef-ranching states over his plans to allow more beef from Argentina into the country.

And some are suggesting it would be better to provide incentives to cull dairy cows for produced-in-the-United States beef, noting it would also reduce excess milk production.

Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska, who is a rancher, said she has voiced her “deep concerns” to the White House.

“Bottom line: if the goal is addressing beef prices at the grocery store, this isn’t the way. Right now, government intervention in the beef market will hurt our cattle ranchers,” she said in a statement. 

“The U.S. has safe, reliable beef, and it is the one bright spot in our struggling ag economy. Nebraska’s ranchers cannot afford to have the rug pulled out from under them when they’re just getting ahead or simply breaking even,” she said.

Senator Paul Rand from Kentucky noted that Trump is imposing many tariffs to protect American businesses and opening the door to more beef from Argentina runs counter to Trump’s key policy.

Manitoba adds sustainability

Manitoba Pork is adding sustainability to its standards for producers.

There are standards for animal care, community well-being, collaborative growth, economic resilience and environmental stewardship.

Farmers must be good stewards of the land, which means growing crops, raising livestock and moving what they’ve grown and raised to market sustainably, saide Manitoba Pork in a  document announcing the new protocols.

The Sustainability Framework also focuses on the role Manitoba Pork plays in supporting hog farmers identify potential targets, explaining other outside impacts on producers and identifying areas where collaboration with partners is essential.

The program will also focus on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are lower as a result increased efficiencies on hog farms that have included reduced water and energy use and lower carbon emissions, Manitoba Pork said.

Pork training gains internet attention

 

A Canadian online training program for people hired to work on hog farms has gained international attention because it is posted on swineweb, a site for the global pork industry.

The PigLEARN platform, developed by the Canadian Pork Council , provides a centralized system to deliver structured training, certify learning progress, and document compliance across a workforce.

PigLEARN was designed to meet the growing need for standardized onboarding, biosecurity preparedness, and continuous education across swine production systems. The platform currently includes 86 industry-developed training modules, with an additional 10 modules soon to be added.

According to Mark Fynn, training resources coordinator with the pork council,  PigLEARN functions as a full learning management system tailored specifically to the swine industry. It enables employees to log in, access modules, and complete training online, while managers can assign modules, schedule completion timelines, and track progress in real time.

Key training areas include:

·       Barn entry and biosecurity protocols

·       Pig handling and welfare

·       Group sow housing management

·       Preparing pigs for transport

·       Sow barn management and care best practices

Fynn said “this isn’t just about compliance – it’s about building confidence, improving animal care, and elevating overall barn performance.”

It is flexible enough to be useful to any size of farm.

Managers are able to create user groups by barn or role, tp assign training schedules, track completion records and demonstrate compliance for audits or certification programs

It helps train newcomers, improves employee retention, and ensures consistent training delivery across multiple sites or barns.

The platform will be showcased during the upcoming Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium, November 4–5 in Saskatoon, where producers will have the opportunity to see it in action and explore implementation strategies.

Provincial marketing boards have information on how to get the program.

Food prices continue to rise

 

Food prices rose by four per cent in September, continuing to increase more than the general inflation rate since spring.

The overall inflation rate was 2.4 per cent, exceeding the Bank of Canada goal of two per cent.

The main food price increases were fresh vegetables, processed foods with lots of sugar, fresh and frozen beef and coffee.

-30-.

Moonfleet wins third appeal

 

Emily Crocco, chair of the Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal, has tossed a fine levied against Mid Peninsula Carriers Inc., a sister company of Moonfleet Poultry Inc. of Fergus, over trucking chickens to a packing plant.

It was an official from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs who investigated, although the alleged violations were of the federal government’s Health of Animals Regulations.

Inspector Vadym Turchenko said dead and dying birds reported by Abate Rabbit Packers included ones at the bottom level of the truck and were wet because it rained all night.

But weather data entered as evidence indicated there was no rain. And Turchenko arrived at the plant hours after the chickens had been unloaded and could not know whether they were in crates at the bottom of the truck.

Speculation about how they might have got wet was just that – speculation.

It was the third tribunal win in as many days for Moonfleet.

Pesticide importer fined

 

Zecoya Inc. of Toronto had a fine of $10,000 levied by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reduced to $8,000 by the Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal.

The agency said the company misled or obstructed an agency inspector who was investigating the importation and sale of pesticides, in this case mosquito repellent.

The company paid for three of four violations.

Ahmad Saad testified that there was never any intention to provide false information or mislead the inspector, but it was a misunderstanding of the inspector’s requests combined with a lack of resources to retrieve all the requested information.

Geneviève Parent, who conducted the hearing, said she found Saad’s testimony credible.    

Partners track meat’s carbon footprint

A new global collaboration between dsm-firmenich Animal Nutrition & Health and Bayer is set to reshape how environmental impact is measured across the animal protein value chain.

It has major implications for pork producers, their leaders say, because they are increasingly facing sustainability expectations from processors, retailers, and global export markets. Feed is the single largest contributor to a pig’s carbon footprint. 

By integrating Bayer’s primary crop life cycle assessment data with dsm-firmenich’s Sustell™ platform — a leading environmental footprinting solution for livestock — this partnership aims to accurately track emissions from the field all the way to the pork processing plant.

Farmers will be able to show meat packers and retailers what their environmental impact is, rather than relying on estimates, and that will improve their bargaining power.

They will also learn how they can reduce emissions by adjusting feed rations and management practices.

While sustainability has often been seen as a regulatory burden, this partnership positions environmental footprinting as a business opportunity. Accurate data can unlock new revenue streams, sustainability premiums, and access to preferred supplier programs.

According to dsm-firmenich, the Sustell™ system helps producers pinpoint where improvements generate the greatest return — whether through enhanced feed efficiency, manure management, or carbon-smart ingredient sourcing.

Alberta Holstein is tallest in world

 

Jasmine Entz has the tallest Holstein in the world at her farm near Vulcan, Alta.

Beef is eight yeara old, is still growing and was recently declared by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the tallest living steer.

Entz been looking for an animal to ride and with his intelligence and gentle demeanour, this little black-headed fellow seemed like a perfect fit, she said.

He stayed at the dairy until he was weaned, then she brought him home to her hobby farm, to join her herd of 50 miniature goats. 

Beef is actually now 6-foot-6 at the shoulder, having grown an inch since he set the record. At eight years old, he’s also still growing and Entz doesn’t know when he’ll stop.

If he grows two more inches, he’ll overtake Fiorino, a chianina ox from Italy who died in 2007, to become the tallest steer ever recorded.