Milk flunks quality standards

 

The United States Grade A milk standard allows for milk quality that would not be saleable from Canadian farms, said senior economist Al Mussell of the Canadian Agri-food Policy Institute website.

The U.S. also allows for a significant volume of milk used in processing that does not even meet US Grade A standard, he said.

The U.S. spending cuts to laboratory proficiency testing further undermine the integrity of the US Grade A milk standard, even as it presents a technical barrier to trade, he said.

His policy note describes both important gaps in U.S. milk quality and safety regulation, and the insistence that exporters of dairy products to the U.S. adopt its standards, rather than establish equivalence standards- thereby creating a technical barrier to trade. 

“Canada has been prepared to accept dairy imports from the U.S. as like product.  But the situation has changed- with the suspension of its proficiency testing of milk testing labs and the recent antagonistic approach that the U.S. has taken with Canada”, Mussell said.

“A reasonable and measured approach for Canada could be to require labeling of its dairy imports from the U.S. to indicate that they are not made from milk that does not satisfy U.S. Grade A, a renewal of U.S. funding for milk lab proficiency testing coupled with a serious review of its milk quality standards, and a review of the PMO as an instrument of disguised protectionism by the U.S.”.

Mussell said Canada has a national limit of a somatic cell count of no more than 400,000 per millilitre, but the U.S. allows up to 750,000.

Mussell notes that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been in negotiations with Canada, the European Union and New Zealand to accept their quality standards as equivalent or better than U.S. domestic milk, but so far no agreement has been reached.

He said the U.S. stance is a technical trade barrier.

Mussell’s post on the institute’s website comes as Canadian and U.S. trade negotiators are in tense deadline meetings leading up to an Aug. 19 deadline.

Tyson closing and selling beef plant

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Because there are fewer cattle to slaughter, Tyson plans to close two plants and sell a third.

The company said it will shut down its Joslin, Ill., beef plant and Eagle Mountain, Utah, case-ready facility. Tyson also is pursuing the sale of its Pasco, Wash., beef facility.

Tyson will consolidate its beef business around three centrally located slaughter facilities in Dakota City, Neb., Holcomb, Kan., and Amarillo, Texas. Capacity from the closing facilities will be shifted to other Tyson locations with room for additional production.

Fertilizer prices to remain high

 

CoBank says fertilizer prices are likely to remain high for another two years.

Although prices have declined from the historic highs seen at the start of the war against Iran, elevated fertilizer expenses remain a major headwind for farmers, it said in a new report led by Jacqui Fatka, CoBank’s farm supply and biofuels economist.

Instability in the Middle East, constrained feedstock supplies and tightening phosphate availability will keep fertilizer costs elevated for ag retailers into 2028, she said.

“Ultimately, market recovery will depend on stabilization in the Middle East, lower sulfur prices and shifts in global demand patterns,” she wrote. 

The Middle East supplies more than 60 million tons of fertilizers and raw materials annually, with 45 million tons shipped through the Strait of Hormuz that Iran controls.

Half of globally traded sulfur and more than 30 per cent of global urea exports originate from the region, making these commodities particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions. 

Conflict in the region has resulted in fertilizer plant shutdowns and damaged facilities that will require significant time and resources to repair, she wrote.

An estimated 31 ammonia plants in the Middle East have been directly impacted by the war or shut down completely. Across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, operations at 49 plants have been curtailed or halted due to limited feedstock availability. Meanwhile, at least 20 plants in Russia have been damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks, further exacerbating global supply challenges.

The disruptions have reshaped global trade flows and increased fertilizer prices for North America’s agricultural retailers, particularly for Diammonium Phosphate and Monoammonium Phosphate. 

While most domestic use is supplied by U.S. production, 17 per cent of those two those phosphate imports originate from the Persian Gulf — now one of the most unstable supply regions.

Phosphate markets are expected to remain especially tight. Even before the war, global phosphate supplies were constrained, and rising sulfur and ammonia costs have further limited production. 

Ammonia and sulfur are the two biggest variable cost inputs for phosphate production, and three of the world’s 10 largest ammonia exporters are located behind the Strait of Hormuz. 

China, the largest producer and exporter of phosphate fertilizer, has banned phosphate exports through August and high sulfur prices may lead to an extension of the ban.

Farmers have already responded by conducting more soil testing, adopting variable‑rate application technology and precision nutrient management to maintain yields. 

Under-fertilization can be more costly than higher fertilizer prices, which is why many farmers have not reduced nitrogen applications but have lowered phosphate and potassium levels by as much as 10 to 15 per cent in recent years.

“Lower or no fertilizer use creates a two‑ to three‑year gap before yield begins to suffer,” said Fatka. “The question now becomes how much longer the mining of the soils can occur without sacrificing yield.”

If fertilizer prices remain high through fall as expected, more farmers may push applications into spring, creating logistical challenges for retailers who must manage tight planting windows and uncertain demand. Lower global application rates could modestly reduce yields and support commodity prices, easing some inventory concerns for retailers, she said.

Whole Foods recalls some imports

 

Whole Food is recalling guacamoles, pico de gallos, salsas, and prepared foods because they may be contaminated with food-;poisoning bacteria.

The products were imported, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency did not say where from.

Manure can spread antibiotic resistance

 

Manure can spread antibiotic resistance, but a team from Oklahoma State University thinks it has a solution.

The concern is that antibiotic resistance can spread to other bacteria and pose a threat to animal and human health.

The solution is tiny bubbles of ozone thrust into manure.

Ozone bubbles have long been used to treat sewage, but not as small as the ones now being researched and tested.

Mark Krzmarzick from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and head of the research team said the nanobubbles destroy genetic material.

Even if the bacteria are killed, pieces remain and can spread antibiotic resistance he said.

The research team aims to find out whether nanobubbles of ozone can break that genetic material apart so antibiotic resistance can’t spread.

Farm workforce declines

 

There has been a decline of 52,000 on-farm workers since 2020, reported Statistics Canada.

The total now is 225,000.

Jennifer Wright, executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council said the decline comes from an aging workforce, retirements, lack of young people taking agriculture jobs and competition from employers in other businesses.

She said the decline doesn’t mean there are fewer jobs, but that farmers are having more difficulty recruiting workers.

She said the numbers may also be missing temporary foreign workers, but Statistics Canada’s spokesman defended its survey numbers as consistently reliable and accurate.

The decline is not new. In 1993 the total was 400,000, but the decline has accelerated over the last few years.

Maple Leaf sales increase, profit slumps

Maple Leaf Foods Inc.reported a second-quarter profit of $40.8-million, down from $57.8-million a year ago, as its sales rose 1.6 per cent.

Sales totalled $1.02-billion, up from $1 billion.

Maple Leaf says poultry sales increased by 7.1 per cent, driven by higher volumes, improved channel mix and pricing.