PED in Middlesex

 

Swine Health Ontario reports there has been an outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in a farrow-to-finish hog business in Middlesex County.

It is the third disease outbreak in Ontario this month.

Third farm has avian flu

A third turkey farm near Listowel has been infected with highly-pathogenic avian influenza.

They are all located close to each other and have experienced outbreaks over several days.

More than 109,000 turkeys are being sacrificed to prevent further spread of the disease.

Meatable closes business

 

Dutch-based cultivated meat start-up Meatable has closed.

 

It made pork sausages by growing pork stems cells in vats.

 

Meatable was unable to raise additional funding after attracting such investors as Agronomics, Betagro, BlueYard Capital, DSM Venturing and Invest-NL, according to several media outlets. 

The industry faces increasing development costs, scaling challenges and a hostile reception from lawmakers, including in several U.S. states thqt have declared bans because the technology threatens livestock and poultry farmers and processing plants.

Meatable’s closure follows the recent demise of Believer Meats and a shift in growth prospects for similar companies such as GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods.

Clemens settles lawsuit

Clemens has settled a pork price-fixing case for $7.75 million.

It goes to indirect institutional and commercial customers of Clemens Food Group and Clemens Family Corporation.

The lawsuit accused them of conspiring with competitors to obtain higher prices.

Province wants to double animal abuse fines

 

The Ontario government has posted proposals to set stiff fines for people who abuse police animals.

They will be fined at least $25,000 and up to $130,000 for a first offence and be sentenced to two years in prison.

For a second offence, the fine could be up to $260,000.

A corporation, upon conviction, is liable to a fine of not more than $500,000 in the case of a first offence, and in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not more than $1,000,000. 

Quebec packer runs afoul of U.S. inspection

 

Maître Saladier Inc. of Quebec has recalled 6,000 pounds of quiche Lorraine la Madeleine with pork due to a failure to present the 19.8-pound boxes for import reinspection,.

The product by-passed United States Department Food Safety and Inspection Service import inspection.

The product was sent to distributors in Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, and Texas. 

The government said it found the problem during routine import surveillance.

Poultry polluters judged guilty

A federal judge has found several poultry companies guilty of phosphorous pollutiomj 20 years after Oklahoma State filed charges.

The decision came a matter of hours after Governor Kevin Stitt pleaded during a meeting of poultry farmers for leniency for them.

Colorado State’s environment protection agency said the Illinois River Watershed was polluted by the farms and processing companies and accused them of statutory public nuisance, federal common law nuisance, trespass and violations of two Oklahoma statutes tied to pollution.

The court previously found phosphorus levels in the watershed’s rivers and streams were elevated beyond natural background levels and that runoff tied to land-applied poultry waste was the principal contributor.

The court also imposed civil penalties under Oklahoma’s Environmental Quality Code based on documented soil test results exceeding 65 pounds per acre, then reduced penalties after weighing statutory factors. The court ordered Tyson Foods to pay $160,000, Cobb-Vantress $30,000, Cargill $60,000, George’s $10,000, Simmons $90,000 and Cal-Maine $70,000, plus post-judgment interest, with attorneys fees and costs to be determined later. The court said it would retain jurisdiction to enforce the judgment.

The judgment ordered a phased remediation process that included investigation, planning, implementation and monitoring. The court said it would appoint a master to oversee remediation and restrictions on land application of poultry waste and to recruit and supervise a watershed monitoring team to conduct inspections, prepare nutrient management plans and report material or repeated noncompliance.

The court set a soil test phosphorus threshold of 120 pounds per acre for land application of poultry waste generated by the defendants’ birds within the watershed, adopting a less stringent standard than the state requested. 

The order also limited application rates to two tons per acre and required recent soil testing under supervision of the master or monitoring team before land application occurred.