One rabid bat in February

 

Out of 105 samples submitted, one bat tested positive for rabies in Ontario in February.

It is the first case of rabies in the province so far this year.

Canada-wide there have been nine cases, six of them raccoons in Quebec and three bats with one each for Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

Chicken hearing cancelled

 

The appeal Maple Leaf Foods Inc. filed against the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board has been cancelled.

No reason for the appeal or the cancellation is included in the notice from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeals Tribunal.

The appeal has been on the docket since last fall.

Grain elevator converting to fertilizer

V6 Agronomy is converting the grain elevator at Johnstown to handle specialty fertilizer imports.

The site is on the St. Lawrence River Seaway about 100 kilometers south of Ottawa.

Much of the fertilizer will be loaded on trains to haul it to Western Canada. It will also serve Eastern Ontario by truck and some U.S. markets.

V6 is a Canadian developer of compound and specialty fertilizers. The company was founded in 2012 and has been operating an inland fertilizer terminal in Wilcox, Sask., since 2020.

The converted elevator will be called the Odyssey Terminal. It is owned by Edwardsburgh Cardinal Township..

The first phase of development features a 20,000-tonne fertilizer storage building that can accommodate a full Handysize bulk carrier vessel.

Global food prices up

 

Global food prices crept up last month, reported the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

It’s index rose by nine-tenths of one per cent to stand at 125.3 points, ending five months of declines.

Vegetable oil prices jumped, and meat and cereals rose, outweighing declines in quotes for dairy and sugar. 

Overall food prices are one per cent lower than a year ago and 21.8 per cent below the March 2022 peak.

Tobacco growers in for a windfall

 

Tobacco growers could be in for a windfall from the national tobacco settlement of $32.5 billion last March.

The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Council has posted a notice that it intends to make the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board responsible to getting the money to qualified growers. 

The public has until April 20 to comment on the proposal.

The notice does not say how much money to board will receive for distribution to growers.

Pistachio importer’s licence suspended

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has suspended the licence of pistachio importer Alimentation du Canada Inc. of Laval, Que.

The CFIA said the company failed to implement the recall procedure for imported pistachio products, and failed to record any information demonstrating the effectiveness of the recall. 

Pistachios from Iran have been subjected to scores of recalls this year because of salmonella food-poisoning contamination.

Cattleytics makes Dragon Den pitch

The developers of Cattleytics software for dairy farmers failed to win any backing during an appearance on the CBC Dragon’s Den television show, but are pleased they got a change to put agriculture in front of a large Canadian audience.

Shari Van Pol of Dundas said they were in it more for publicity than money the panel members might invest in the software that helps analyse data and management.

She is the founder and chief executive officer, but caught a lot of attention when Mac and Rose Jakeman brought an Ayrshire cow to the studio on the 10^th storey of the CBC office.

The dragons understood the value, and congratulated van de Pol on being able to build the company she has without outside investors. They were impressed by the amount of government funding she was able to find.

“Doing that as a solo founder is nothing short of amazing,” said dragon Tara  Bosch.

Van Pol asked for $1.2 million to grow her company.