Beef farmers announce $2,500 scholarship

 The Beef Farmers of Ontario is setting up an annual $2

,500 scholarship on honour of Dr. Ira Mandell.

The first winner is PhD student Madeline McLellan who will research beef rations and the impact on carcass qualify.

The Dr. Mandell Beef Research Award will recognize exceptional research that advances knowledge, innovation and sustainability.

The BFO said throughout his career, Dr. Mandell made significant contributions to beef production and meat-quality research, education and critical research infrastructure. 

He played an influential role in developing the Ontario Beef Research Centre, helped modernize the University’s meat research

facilities and served as an advisor to BFO’s Research Committee for more than 20 years. 

He helped shape research priorities that continue to benefit Ontario beef farmers.

“Dr. Mandell understood the importance of connecting academic research with the practical needs of beef farmers and the broader industry,” said BFO president Jason Leblond.

“This award is a fitting way to recognize his remarkable legacy while encouraging emerging researchers to pursue innovative work that will benefit Ontario’s beef sector for years to come,” Leblond said.

McLellan’s research examines how supplementation with guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and rumen-protected methionine affects muscle energy metabolism, feed efficiency and beef quality.

Her findings could help Ontario beef farmers improve productivity, manage production costs and continue delivering high-quality beef to consumers, BFO said.

The research may also support the future approval of GAA as a feed ingredient for beef cattle in Canada, potentially providing producers

with an additional science-based nutritional tool.

“Madeline’s research is a great example of the practical, industry-focused work this award was created to recognize,” said Kim Jo Bliss, chair of BFO’s research Ccmmittee. 

“Her work could help farmers improve feed efficiency and animal performance while continuing to produce high-quality

beef. It reflects Dr. Mandell’s commitment to research that addresses real-world challenges and

delivers practical value for Ontario beef farmers.”

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U.S. farm subsidies climb again

Farm subsidies are poised to increase to $55.4 billion US ($78 billion Cdn) this year, provided politicians approve the current ask for $11 billion.

Brooke Rollins, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, said this additional money is meant to be a springboard, not a new floor for government support.

The administration is requesting $10 billion in temporary economic assistance for 2026 row crop and specialty crop producers and $1.1 billion for producers hit by catastrophic freeze losses this past winter

If approved, that money would come on top of the $44.3 billion in government payments USDA’s Economic Research Service has estimated for farmers this year. Combined, that would total $55.4 billion.

Whatever happened to the Uruguay Round trade agreement to cap farm subsidies? Could Canadians impose countervailing duties - or at least threaten to do so as a counter to Trump's tariff threats?

Pollution closes beaches

All beaches in Huron County are currently unsafe for swimming, according to the latest testing from Huron Perth Public Health.

The health units did not say whether the pollution is from flooded municipal sewage treatment plants or from manure runoff from farms.

After taking water samples on Wednesday, the HPPH team said all of the 13 beaches tested showed higher than acceptable bacteria levels.

Cautions against swimming have been posted at Amberley, Ashfield, Port Albert, Sunset, Goderich Main, St. Christopher's, Rotary Cove, Blacks Point, Pavilion Road, Hay, Port Blake, Bayfield Pier, and Howard Street beaches.

The Health Unit says those who swim risk being exposed to bacteria that may cause diarrhea or infections of ears, nose, throat, eyes, and skin. 

Updates from water sampling will be posted soon.

Dutch offer cash to retire farmers

The Dutch government has set aside $1.2 billion to pay farmers to retire.

The fund aims to reduce nitrogen manure pollution.

The measure is open to micro, small and medium-sized livestock farms raising dairy cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, veal calves, dairy goats, rabbits, meat ducks and other cattle. 

Priority will be given to farms located in areas where nitrogen levels are high.

Eligible participants will receive direct grants covering between 100 and 110 per cent of eligible costs, providing a strong financial incentive for producers who decide to cease operations permanently. The programme will remain in force for five years.

I know some farmers who have moved to Canada because they were frustrated by changing environmental regulations mainly related to manure.

Beef plant closure hits Ontario hard

JBS USA announced it is closing its beef-packing plant at Souderton, Pennsylvania, leaving 2,300 weekly marketings from Ontario looking for a new home.

There aren’t many in Ontario which is dominated by the Cargill plant in Guelph. Norwich Packers and Ontario Halal Meat Packers of Milton are possibilities for small volumes.

Beef Farmers of Ontario president Jason Leblond of Powassan said the scheduled closure “is concerning for Ontario’s beef sector” but that the organization “will continue working to understand the impacts … and advocate for solutions that maintain strong market access and competitive pricing.”

Food systems analyst Kevin Grier said in an online post that no other states within the region have anywhere near the slaughtering capacity of Pennsylvania.

“While it is easy to see why the U.S. and the western Canadian industry sloughed off the news, it is a concern for Ontario. Ontario cattle feeders might be the only ones in North America that are worried about Souderton.”

Beef packers have been losing money on every animal slaughtered this summer and the Pennsylvania plant Is not the only one that has closed.

Dairy industry applauds Trump’s tariffs

 

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the United States Dairy Export Council (USDEC) have issued a joint statement strongly supporting the President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian dairy imports.

Trump has signed the executive order, but paused implementation until late August.

The tariff aims to gain easier access to the Canadian market.

Trump and the dairy industry have persistently complained about the way Canada administers import quotas.

The Canadian organizations that speak for dairy farmers want Canada to hold firm.

Mandatory COOL not dead

Despite repeated losses in trade decisions, the United States has leading politicians still lobbying for mandatory country-of-origin labelling of meat products.

Among them is Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, R-CALF which lobbies for ranchers and Republican Senator Mike Rounds from South Dakota.

It’s in this context that the The Meat Institute has declared its opposition to a reinstatement of the 2013 Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling .

In a release to media, the Meat Institute cited a new economic analysis by Decision Innovation Solutions that concluded such labeling measures would cost the economy $1 billion via increased expenses for ranchers, processors, retailers and consumers.

Details from the study included the following arguments:

 

• Compliance costs associated with tracking, record keeping, product segregation, labeling and verification would substantially increase costs throughout the beef and pork value chains.

• Those costs would total $1.02 billion for year one ($721 million in beef and $296 million in pork), and would escalate to $4.8 billion through five years and $10.1 billion through 10 years.

• Costs would be passed to consumers, who would pay $835 million more annually for beef and $284 million more for pork.

• Compliance costs for retailers would be $488 million the first year and $5 billion over 10 years.

• Finally, with ground beef’s dependency on imported lean beef, mCOOL compliance costs would range between $202 million and $688 million.

Julie Anna Potts, Meat Institute president and chief executive officer, said the study “proves there are real and significant costs to mCOOL,” adding that the regulation “would burden both packers and livestock producers with added costs at a time when beef packers are losing money due to the smallest herd size in 75 years causing record high prices for cattle.”

Rollins said at a public meeting in April as public meeting in April that she was a “big supporter” of the regulation, adding it was “a transparency question. … Everyone in America should know where their food is coming from.”

Rollins and USDA have pushed processors to adopt the voluntary “Product of USA” labeling program that went into effect at the start of this year, and touted 10 processors that had joined the initiative. None of them is among the top five meat packers in the U.S,