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.

Pork touts its economic impact

 

Canada’s pork industry contributes more than $24 billion in economic activity and supports approximately 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, said the Canadian Pork Council in a new report.

It said this underlines the importance of continued government support for preventing the spread of diseases, for research and international trade.

It starts at farms, but includes their demand for inputs such as feed, veterinary services and medications and jobs in meat packing.

Canadian hog farms generated $7.2 billion worth of in farm income in 2025; pork exports were valued were worth $5.82 billion.

MacDonald snubs parliamentary committee

 

Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald is snubbing a parliamentary committee to go ahead with the closure of seven research facilities, including a food safety lab at Guelph.

In his reply to the agriculture committee’s report, Science in Canadian Agriculture and the Closure of Research Centres, he said he noted the recommendation to “pause and reverse” the closures in Lacombe, Alta., Indian Head and Scott, Sask., Portage la Prairie, Man., Guelph, Ont., Quebec City and Nappan, N.S. but said research will continue at other locations.

Farm organizations all opposed the cuts. The Saskatchewan government stepped in, signing a memorandum of understanding to keep its two farms operating with industry support.

“Closure of the research and development centres will be phased and carefully managed” and many staff will be retained, reassigned or relocated, MacDonald said.

He is cutting 665 positions in his agriculture department and 587 at his Canadian Food Inspection Agency.