Canada Pork gets $3.8 million

 

The federal government is giving up to $3.8 million to Canada Pork to diversify its export markets, mainly to Asia.

About 70 per cent of Canada’s pork is exported.

Diversification is core to Canada Pork's mandate, and this investment helps us build and maintain international markets, reach new global customers and keep our industry strong at home," said Hans Kristensen, chair of Canada Pork.

Greenhouse gets $5 million from feds

Kinghaven Farm is getting $5 million from the federal government for a new greenhouse near King City, 

Kinghaven will produce leafy greens such as lettuce.

Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said the money will come from the new National Food Security Strategy announced recently by Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The money will be used for adopting and customizing automation and climate control technologies at the new greenhouse.

“Controlled environment agriculture is key to building a resilient, stable food system in Canada,” MacDonald said. 

“This investment in Kinghaven Farms’ innovative greenhouse technology will boost local production, reduce reliance on imports and ensure Canadians have reliable access to high-quality, locally grown greens year-round. This project strengthens food security and reinforces Canada as a leader in sustainable agricultural practices.”

A news release said this greenhouse will reduce imports, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from long-haul transportation and provide year-round Canadian-grown leafy greens. The new greenhouse will be able to grow two million kilograms a year.

The company markets under the Haven Greens brand.

                          

Syngenta adds biological research

 

Syngenta has added biologicals to the seeds testing it performs at its Honeywood Research center at Plattsville.

It is also changing the name from Canadian Seedcare Institute to Canadian Seedcare and Biologicals Institute.

The facility performs extensive testing on pesticides that are applied to seeds, including ones to ensure the seeds can flow freely through farm seeding equipment and that all seeds are adequately treated.

“By expanding the institute’s mandate to include biologicals, we are further investing in Canadian agricultural research to support our customers and contribute to a more productive, competitive and resilient sector,” said Syngenta Canada president Shaun Vey.

Syngenta is a global company.

Fire damages Greenfield storage

A lightning strike ignited a fire in storage tanks at the Greenfield Global ethanol-production plant in Chatham.

The company said it will not stop ethanol production and cleanup and containment operations are underway.

“A thorough investigation will be conducted to identify opportunities for continuous improvement once cleanup activities have been completed,” the company said..

There were no injuries.

Beekeepers seek emergency aid

 

 

Canada’s beekeepers are pleading for emergency aid because the new 50 per cent U,S. tariff has eliminated 60 per cent of their market.

They are also facing rising costs and many were on the financial brink before the tariff, according to Connie Phillips, executive director of the Canadian Beekeepers Federation.

She said the need is immediate so beekeepers can prepare colonies for the winter.

She said it is not only beekeepers who are at risk, but also blueberry and canola growers who need bees to pollinate their crops.

In a letter to Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Prairies Economic Development, the Beekeepers Federation appealed for an immediate interim payment to each bee colony to help keep them viable. It said it expected “sales to the United States to go to zero and stay there until the tariff comes off.”

 

Sheep Federation to run traceability

 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has reached an agreement to allow its traceability program to be administered by the Canadian Sheep Federation.

The hand-over will take effect at the end of this year.

For sheep producers, this means the industry will have a more direct role in guiding the system it relies on, with CSF providing the national leadership, administration and support needed to deliver it, the sheep federation said.

Chairman Fred Baker said “this announcement caps 20 years of progress in traceability for the Canadian sheep industry. 

"Now the work of making traceability deliver for Canadian lamb producers can begin. This agreement reflects confidence in our industry’s ability to lead and support that system, and we take that

responsibility seriously”. 

As part of a 90-day transition period, the Canadian Sheep Identification Program (CSIP) will begin operating under the name SheepTrace.

The federation will also establish a SheepTrace Advisory Committee to help guide the program. 

The committee will have representation from every province, including

producers and other industry stakeholders.

Wastewater outrage in the United States

 The Environmental Working Group is reacting with outrage because the United States Environmental Protection Agency has scrapped its guidance on monitoring long-lasting harmful chemicals in wastewater.

Melanie Benesh, the working group’s vice-president for government affairs, said stripping away this service opens the door for corporations to boost profits by ignoring discharge regulations.

The PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called “forever chemicals” because they persist for a long time and have been linked to kidney, liver, pancreatic and testicular cancers; as well as immune system suppression, thyroid disease, reduced vaccine efficacy, reproductive and developmental harm, low birth weight, increased cholesterol, weight gain in children and dieting adults, and a growing list of serious health effects.

The elimination of EPA guideance undermines an important tool for preventing PFAS pollution from reaching the nation’s waterways, where it can persist for decades and become a costly, long-term contamination problem., the Environmental Working Group.

The PFAS can get into waters, such as the Great Lakes, shared by Canadians.

For wastewater treatment plants, industrial facilities and state permitting authorities, the change raises questions about whether and how PFAS monitoring and discharge limits will be maintained in wastewater control permits.

The agency claims its rollback is an effort to address “confusion” and “inconsistent application” across states. But it creates a glaring contradiction in federal policy.

The working group said If the EPA continues to defend PFAS monitoring requirements in individual permits, including in a recent settlement involving a Massachusetts wastewater treatment plant, why is it withdrawing guidance that helped states implement those protections?

That question matters because PFAS are exceptionally persistent and difficult to remove once they enter the environment.  Preventing these chemicals from entering waterways in the first place is critical to reducing exposure and avoiding the long-term costs of contamination and cleanup.

Benesch said “let’s call this what it is: The EPA is doing corporate polluters’ dirty work at the expense of public health.

“The EPA has abandoned its mission, choosing to protect industrial polluters rather than the families forced to drink companies’ toxic runoff.

By stripping away Clean Water Act guidance for PFAS discharges, the agency is deliberately blinding state regulators and giving chemical manufacturers permission to pollute without fear of oversight. 

“The EPA is actively tearing down the guardrails that keep PFAS out of our drinking water.

“Hiding behind bureaucratic excuses about ‘process and confusion’ is insultingly weak. If the EPA was genuinely concerned about procedure, they would finalize binding, enforceable standards today, not erase the only thin line of defense that communities have left.” the working group said.

“Families living downstream don’t get a polite administrative memo when cancer-causing chemicals poison their drinking water. They just get the contamination, the medical bills and decades of forever chemicals in their blood.

“At a moment when the science on PFAS harm has never been clearer, the EPA is signaling loud and clear to industry that corporate convenience matters more than clean water.

“That’s not regulatory housekeeping. That’s putting industry profits over public health,” the Environment Working Group said.

Just when you think the Trump administration can't get any worse, it gets worse.