Beaf packers challenge price-fixing

Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef have asked a federal appeals court to overturn a decision allowing cattle producers to pursue a class-action lawsuit alleging the companies conspired to suppress fed cattle price

They say that cattle producers failed to demonstrate that the alleged conspiracy caused widespread harm sufficient to justify class certification.

The appeal challenges a July 16 ruling by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minnesota certifying a class of fed cattle producers seeking approximately $27 billion in damages. 

Sunova must pay legal costs

 

Sunova Implement Ltd. has been ordered to pay $7,213.35 in costs to CLAAS of America Inc. in relation to matters before the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Appeal Tribunal.

And the tribunal set a 10-day time limit for Sunova to provide documents requested in August when the first tribunal hearing on motions took place.

The tribunal wrote that:

-  The Tribunal finds that the rationale provided for by the Applicant (Sunova) in failing to comply with the prior Orders of the Tribunal to the Date of the Decision to be unconvincing.

 

-       The Tribunal determines that the conduct (CLAAS) is granted and the Applicant is ordered to pay costs in the amount $7,213.35 to the Respondents within seven days or the Application will be dismissed in its entirety without further notice.

McCain buying in India

 

McCain Foods of New Brunswick is buying Falcon Group, a family-owned potato business in India.

The deal was announced while federal Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu was on a trade mission in India.

 Falcon Agrifriz Foods’ potato operations in Gujarat, a state in northwestern India, employs 450 workers and buys from more than 1,000 farms.

McCain and Falcon did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.

McCain began operating in India in 1998 and currently has 1,800 employees in the country, and buys from 2,500 potato farmers. It also markets vegetables and cheese in India.

It has operations in 160 countries, has more than 20,000 employees and has annual sales of $16 billion.

U.S. probing farm machinery industry

The United States Federal Trade Commission and Department of Agriculture are looking for public input as they investigate farm equipment dealers and manufacturers.

The joint Request for Information comes in response to the increasing number of complaints the agriculture department has received from farmers facing multiple barriers when purchasing machinery or accessing the parts and services required to keep equipment operating

Federal regulators are encouraging farmers, independent repair providers and former employees of agricultural equipment manufacturers and dealers to share their experiences. The FTC and USDA are seeking public input on:

• Any relevant business models, policies, agreements or contractual terms.
• Any firsthand experiences or documented cases of restrictions, penalties or retaliation.
• Broader competitive implications — how these practices might impact pricing, market entry, innovation, farmer welfare or rural economic resilience.

According to the agencies, this input will help them ensure the market place for agricultural equipment remains, “fair and that farmers can continue to put food on Americans’ tables.”

Ag Discovery Centre seeks input

The Ontario Agri-Food Discovery Centre group held an open house event in Listowel on Wednesday to get feedback from the community on the project.

Chairman Steve Dolson says they wanted to get insight from people to help plan what will be included in the centre.

But they also want the provincial and federal government to chip in for the project which is estimated to cost $50 million. So far the only government support has come from the local municipality.

 

Dolson said the open house was "very much an opportunity for them to weigh in on what's important to them as far as what's in the centre for exhibits and experiences. So what else do people want to see in there, both inside and outside the centre? That's what we want to know."

Reitch and Petch, a Canadian-based international multidisciplinary design firm, held the open house.

It has worked on the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Science North in Sudbury and the London Children’s Museum.

Dolson says a huge part of the centre will be teaching people about the importance and impact of the agricultural industry on all our lives.

"The farm population is less than two per cent of the Canadian population, but one in nine Canadians are employed in this industry, they're part of it. Their jobs and their economies of their local communities in rural Ontario and beyond, from one end to the other, it's dependent on our industry," he said.

        

PED persists after truck washing

 Thirty-eight per cent of the hog-hauling trucks that went through truck washes with disinfectant still had evidence of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, a new study found.

The researchers also found that sick pigs typically carry multiple infectious agents.

The study also found that most pigs shrug off the virus that remains in trucks after they are washed and disinfected, but said genetics, environment and age are other factors involved in outbreaks.

In Canada, studies have found that thorough cleaning and high temperature treatments are effective in stopping the trucking spread of the virus.

 

Butch Clare escapes fee

 

Walter Richard (Butch) Clare and his Aylmer Meats Ltd. stuck Harrison Pensa law firm of London, Ont., with a $1.7 bill for legal fees related to the closure of his meat-packing business for breaking Canadian Food Inspection regulations.

He was fined a total of $15,000 and Aylmer Meats $110,000.

But then he won a lawsuit against the province and was awarded $3,5 million.

When Harrison Pensa sued for its money, the court ruled it couldn’t tap into the $3.5 million because that lawsuit was filed by other lawyers Clare hired.