Ten women honoured

 

Ten prominent women from Huron-Bruce have been honoured for their contributions to agriculture and rural life.

Huron-Bruce MPP and Rural Affairs Minister Lisa Thompson recognized the group on Wednesday during Rural Ontario Week, coinciding with the International Year of the Woman Farmer.

The honourees are Tara Terpstra, Emily Morrison, Carol Leeming, Miranda Klaver, Margaret Vincent, Becky Maus, Kristie Gilchrist, Barb Zettler, Amanda Hammell, and Christine MacIntyre.

 

Thompson noted that while the roles of women on the farm continue to evolve, their resilience, leadership, and commitment to rural communities remain a constant foundation for Ontario's agricultural success.

Blackburn News photo

Potash port upgrades coming

 

 

Canpotex announced it will be investing $500 million to improve its bulk-handling terminal at the Port of Vancouver.

Canpotex is owned by Nutrien and Mosaic.

Their port facility is Neptune Bulk Terminals.

Canpotex said it is its largest ever investment.

“The world will need more potash, and Canada should be the country that supplies it,” company president and chief executive Gordon McKenzie said.

                           

Olymel opens meat processing plant

 

Olymel has officially opened a new meat processing plant at Trois-Rivieres, Que., that can slice and package both pork and chicken.

At $142 million, it is the largest investment the company has made. The plant can process up to 50 million kilograms a year, which is four times more than the company’s previous capacity.

Innovations include battery storage so electricity can be purchased at lower off-peak-demand times and released when prices are high.

There will be air chilling instead of water, heat recovery and closed-loop water management.

Olymel is owned by farmers and is the dominant meat packer in Quebec. 

Ag committee stymied

The all-parties House of Commons Agriculture committee has had another of its recommendations rejected by Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald.

This time it is a call for mandatory reporting of the prices meat packers pay for hogs and cattle, just as it is in the United States.

As reported earlier, he rejected the committee's call for a pause on closing seven research facilities and a careful review of the likely consequences.

The agriculture department replied that here is no legislative authority to collect price information in Canada.  Statistics Canada has authority to collect, compile and publish statistical information, but that is subject to constraints of proportionality, purpose and protecting confidentiality.

The industry structure in Canada is also a factor, it said, because there is a high level of concentration and a limited number of processors. This makes sharing detailed price information more complex. Ther department did not say that the two dominant meat packers report prices they pay for cattle slaughtered at their U.S. plants.

MacDonald agreed with the committee recommendation calling for a transparent way to identify previously frozen meat in the supply chain, better interprovincial meat trade and stronger support for provincial and local slaughter plants.

The response said the government continues work to amend the Specified Risk Material regulations and harmonize them with the U.S. The comment period on proposed amendments ended Sept. 9.

As well, it supported in principle a recommendation to develop a regionalized approach to reportable diseases to keep exports moving.

Oosterhof to boost risk funding

In his first appearance before a farm audience, new Agriculture Minister Sam Oosterhof announced that funding fort risk management programs will be increased to $250 million next year.

He made the announcement at the International Plowing Match crowd near Walkerton.

Premier Doug Ford and Rural Affairs Minister Lisa Thompson were also there.

“We have an ambitious goal to increase the funding through the Risk Management Program to $250 million by next year,” said Oosterhoff. 

“I’ve heard strong and resolute support for that, and the need to maintain that commitment and grow that program.”

“There’s also opportunities on the processing side — to keep more of that product here in Ontario, process it, turn it into goods that we can then add value, create jobs, and export all over the globe,” Oosterhoff said.

Canada has lost companies that processed, especially Niagara-area fruits and Southwestern Ontario sugar beets, but has recently been adding scores of relatively small plants including on-farm ones making cheeses,  jams, jellies and baked goods.

“We have to look at new markets (besides the United States) and expanding what we’re producing,” he said. 

Hunt foresees belt tightening

 

Murray Hunt said the organizations for dairy farming will soon face  a cost crunch as the 9.000 dairy farms shrink to a predicted 3,500 by 2036.

“That little spigot at the end of the milk tank can’t pay for the structure that we have now,” he said.

He urged organizations serving dairy farmers to work together to find efficiencies.

He made the comments in accepting the 2026 Dairy Cattle Industry Distinction award.

Hunt developed programs to identify dairy genetics that would improve the next generation of dairy cows.

He said the early results led to industry-wide improvements in udders, but said more attention should have been given to improving feet and legs.

Hunt has won about every dairy industry award available.

Swineweb says pigs goals shifting

 The strategies for hog farming are shifting said Swineweb in an online article.

The current focus is on individual sow performance and genetics, but the future will measure profit.

One thing that means is not only aiming for large and healthy litters but also a sow’s lifetime performance.

Another shift is management for heavier market weights of up to 300 pounds.

And beyond genetics, managers will be trying to identify pigs whose efficiency remains more stable when disease or environmental disruptions occur.

Meat packers will look beyond pounds produced toward the composition, quality and value of those pounds. That is already happening at farmer-owned Conestoga Meat Packers at Breslau, Ont.

Another new measurement is whether the next generation of genetics produces more economic value per pig space, per sow, per pound of feed and per pound of pork marketed. That’s where genetics ultimately leaves the laboratory and enters the balance sheet, Swineweb said.

The next great pig won’t necessarily be the animal that breaks a production record. It may be the pig that survives longer, remains efficient under pressure, reaches tomorrow’s market weights economically and produces exactly the pork the market values.

For the next generation of swine genetics, maximum performance may no longer be enough; the target is maximum economic performance across the entire production system, Swineweb said.