Judge advances turkey price-fixing lawsuit

A federal judge this week granted class certification for two groups of turkey buyers in an antitrust lawsuit against some of the biggest processors in the country.

United States district judge Sunil Harjani ruled that the group of suppliers, restaurants and others could team up for the lawsuit, claiming Hormel, Butterball and others conspired to fix prices, according to court records.

The class period is January 2010 through December 2016. The case was filed in 2019

Wheat ship caught in ice

A Canadian freighter with 17 people on board got stuck in the ice on Lake Erie while departing Buffalo, according to the Coast Guard, which arrived with icebreaking equipment Thursday to begin freeing the vessel.

The 663-foot Manitoulin had dropped off a load of wheat and was heading back to Sarnia on Wednesday when it became stuck in ice that was rapidly forming in sub-zero temperatures off the Buffalo shoreline. It remained there through Thursday, creating a striking sight on the lake, surrounded on all sides by ice and snow.

“We just haven’t had a bad winter in quite a while. So now that we’ve had one and people haven’t seen this for a bit, they’re like ‘what’s going on?’” said Paul Angelillo, a search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard in Buffalo.

Great Lakes freighters typically are able to navigate surface ice in the winter, but occasionally encounter ice that’s too hard or thick to break through, he said.

The Manitoulin wasn’t damaged and the captain and crew were safe, the Coast Guard said. A Coast Guard cutter started breaking up ice around the ship by Thursday afternoon.

U.S. egg prices soaring

Wholesale egg prices hit a record high of $6.14 ($8.82 Cdn) a dozen in the United States this month.

Economist Greg Archer of Texas A&M University said highly-infectious avian influenza is to blame.

Since Feb. 8, 2022, more than 134.7 million birds have been lost across 1,410 flock outbreaks, including 637 commercial and 773 backyard flocks, the federal government said.

The USDA reported 304 million table egg laying hens in the U.S. flock as of Jan. 1, a 2.3 per cent decline compared  with the 311 million laying hens at the same time last year.

Wholesale prices for large Grade A eggs hit an all-time high of $6.14 per dozen on average nationally Jan. 18 compared with $2.20 in 2-23 before the flu hit hard.

In Vancouver, where avian flu has hit hard for two months, the retail price for Grade A Large eggs is averaging $7 a dozen.

Dairy files appeal against milk board

St. Brigid’s Dairy Ltd. has filed an appeal against the Dairy Farmers of Ontario marketing board.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Appeal Tribunal has scheduled a hearing Feb. 28 to deal with preliminary matters.

The dairy is also known as St. Brigid’s Creamery and St. Brigid’s Dairy and is north of Brussels. It is famous for butter and includes some made from grass-fed milk.

Peavy closing dozens of stores

The company that owns Peavey stores, formerly TSC, is closing a couple dozen stores in Ontario.

They are in Chatham, Sarnia, Goderich, Collingwood, Mount Forest, Arnprior, Bedford, Bowmanville, Brockville, Cornwall, Goderich, Grimsby, Kingston, Kitchener, Lambeth, New Liskeard, Smiths Falls, St. Catharines, St. Jacobs, St. Thomas, Sudbury, Woodstock, and Uxbridge, Rockland and Hyde Park.

“While these closures are a necessary step, we remain committed to make every effort of returning to the value-driven, reliable service our customers have come to expect over the past six decades,” said Jest Sidloski, Peavy’s vice-president of customer experience.

Trump muzzles disease reporting

The Trump administration instructed federal health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the Food and Drug Agency and the National Health Institute, to pause all external communications, such as health advisories, scientific reports and website updates, according to a report from the Washington Post. 

Reports on the H5N1 avian flu outbreak and other public health updates were expected this week but are now on hold. 

It remains unclear if the directive will delay urgent communications such as foodborne illness outbreaks or drug approvals, the report said.

Health officials expressed concern over the move, citing previous attempts during Trump’s first term to control messaging during the COVID-19 response. 

Dutch court orders nitrogen cuts

Dutch farmers will have to cut nitrogen emissions following a court order issued recently.

They have until 2030 to cut manure-containing manures used as fertilizer.

The court in The Hague said the government had clearly failed to comply with European regulations to preserve vulnerable nature reserves and cut excessive emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia, which hurt biodiversity and damage the quality of water, reports Reuters news agency.

It ordered the government to meet its target of reducing the emissions to legally allowed levels in 50 per cent of all affected nature reserves by 2030 and ruled that it should be fined 10 million euros ($15 million Cdn) if the goal was not met.

The lawsuit was brought by Greenpeace.