Swine Health Ontario reports there has been an outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus at a finisher barn in Huron County.
Friday, February 28, 2025
PED in Huron County
Yntema sentenced for Health of Animals violations
Richard John Yntema pleaded guilty to three charges laid by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and has been handed a 12-month conditional sentence.
He fed meat to livestock.
In addition to the sentence, his abattoir was shut down and the judge said he “cannot own, operate, or participate in the operations of any other abattoir for the duration of these orders.”
If he rents his abattoir, he must provide the CFIA with a copy of the rental agreement and ensure it complies with the court orders.
He must remove all slaughter waste from the property within six months.
He must remove wild boar and any other pigs within seven days.
He was charged with eight breaches of the law in April of last year.
The court case was heard at Salmon River, British Columbia.
CFIA suspends a licence
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has suspended the licence held by Rawesome Raw Vegan Inc. of Montreal.
It said the company failed to exercise adequate prevention measures.
The company makes cakes.
Beef farmers lobby Tories
Beef Farmers of Ontario congratulated Premier Doug Ford on his party’s election victory and current Agriculture Minister Rob Flack and his predecessors, Lisa Thompson and Ernie Hardeman on their re-elections.
And then it laid out what it wants from them.
1. Ensure farmers have access to sufficient risk protection to guard against increased market volatility, specifically trade threats, input cost volatility, and supply chain disruptions.
2. Defend Ontario’s trading relationship with the United States and vigorously oppose any U.S. tariffs on Ontario agri-food products, or reciprocal tariffs that would negatively impact the beef sector, specifically cattle, beef and beef products, and other critical inputs.
3. Conduct a formal review of the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act and its underlying regulations and operational processes. Seek to create distinct and tailored systems of enforcement and regulatory frameworks for livestock, companion animals, and zoos and aquariums, similar to what is done in other jurisdictions.
4. Create more robust incentive structures to increase food animal veterinary capacity across Ontario, including modernization and increased funding support for the Veterinary Assistance Program.
5. Provide funding to support an expansion of community pasture cooperatives in Ontario through infrastructure assistance, land improvement grants, and preferential financing and/or direct funding to support land acquisition.
6. Introduce property tax relief measures through the development of a new property tax assessment class for food processors, particularly abattoirs, or through other targeted measures that will help reduce the tax burden on processors of food.
8. Provide a government-backed guarantee under the Ontario Beef Breeder Loan Program to improve competitive financing options for farmers, particularly young farmers, and to help grow participation and access to preferential financing across the province to support cow herd growth and sector entry.
9. Make significant new investments in meat processing capacity focused on increasing access to infrastructure grants, access to labour and skills training, market development support, and other measures that will help measurably increase processing capacity in
Ontario.
The Ontario Agriculture Sustainability Coalition also sent its congratulations and said it wants to work with the government on its promise of an additional $100 million for risk management programs.
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Consumers diss Trump over egg prices
Egg gone. Trump take egg.
Those are two of several phrases Americans are posting on social media to take a poke at U.S. President Donald Trump.
The term "Trump take egg" is a viral meme circulating online as U.S. consumers grapple with sky-high egg prices, an issue plaguing the U.S. in the midst of an avian flu outbreak. More than 166 million birds, 30 million of them egg-laying chickens, have been slaughtered to limit the virus's spread when cases are found.
As egg prices are predicted to jump 41 per cent this year, and Trump breaks his campaign promise to bring down food costs on Day 1, frustrated people online are posting photos of staggering egg prices and empty shelves with three pithy words: Trump take egg.
Sometimes, the posts, many of them on Bluesky, just say "where egg?" Or, "egg gone."
New PDCoV outbreak
Swine Health Ontario reports a new outbreak of porcine deltacoronavirus on a finisher hog farm in Wellington County.
That brings the tally to 10 farms with that virus this year. Another 19 have had outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.
Ontario has had far more outbreaks than other major hog-producing provinces such as Quebec and Manitoba.
New trade head in United States
The United States Senate has confirmed Jamieson Greer as the new U.S. Trade Representative.
Greer, who has previously played a key role in trade negotiations, is expected to shape the future of international trade relations, particularly in agriculture and meat.
He is one of several cabinet members in Washington who will deal with trade with Canada, including a scheduled review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade deal.
Tractor prices about to rise
Machinery Pete, who writes for AgWeb, wrote recently that high-horsepower tractor prices are poised to increase over the next few months.
“If you’re thinking about buying a new or used tractor soon, you might want to move up your timeline,” he wrote.
Currently, the tractor segment in North America is a bit of a mixed bag: High horsepower tractors are seeing decent demand from farmers while sales of lower horsepower models are in decline. Major manufacturers have responded accordingly to overall lower demand for new machines by pulling back on production. This has led to new machine delivery delays and an uptick in farmer interest in the used market, he wrote.
“I think we’re seeing a little shaking loose of the purse strings,” said Machinery Pete.
“I’ve been talking about it for a few months now, but you must be careful of assuming the slow playout like we’ve seen in other downturns in terms of used equipment supply because dealers were so aggressive over the last 18 months pushing stuff out to auction. Given the stronger prices now, I wonder if that will jar dealers to be more (price) aggressive this spring and into the summer?”
Trump answers egg price critics
United States President Donald Trump is reacting to criticism over record-high egg prices by announcing a $1-billion plan to deal with highly-pathogenic avian influenza that has claimed about 140 million farm birds, about 100 million of them egg layers.
When he was campaigning for the presidency in September, he promised to reduce egg prices, but since he became president they have soared because of shortages.
United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) secretary Brooke Rollins said “there’s no silver bullet to eradicating avian flu” but she announced five new measures.
The plan includes up to $500 million to help poultry producers implement “gold-standard” biosecurity measures. USDA will pay up to 75 per cent of the cost to address any identified biosecurity vulnerabilities at poultry farms.
There will be up to $400 million of increased financial relief available to farmers whose flocks are affected by avian flu, and she said USDA will assist them in receiving faster approval to begin safe operations again after an outbreak.
USDA is exploring the use of vaccines and therapeutics for laying chickens. While vaccines aren’t a stand-alone solution, USDA will provide up to $100 million in research and development of vaccines and therapeutics, to improve their efficacy and efficiency.
She said this should help reduce the need to depopulate flocks. USDA has not yet authorized the use of a vaccine. Before making a determination, USDA will consult state leaders, poultry and dairy farmers, and public-health professionals. The agency will also work with trading partners to minimize potential negative trade effects for U.S. producers and to assess public-health concerns.
USDA will take other actions to lower the price of eggs. For starters, it will remove unnecessary regulatory burdens on egg producers where possible.
This will include examining the best way to protect farmers from overly prescriptive state laws, such as California’s Proposition 12, which established minimum space requirements for egg-laying hens.
CFA has new leaders
Keith Currie of Ontario has been acclaimed for another term as president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and has two new vice-presidents, also acclaimed during the annual meeting.
Jill Verwey, president of Keystone Agricultural Producer in Manitoba, is the new first vice-president and Stephanie Levasseur, an apple grower from southern Quebec and a vice-president of the Union des Producteurs Agricole, is second vice-president.
Pierre Lampron, who is also a past-president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, did not seek re-election. Todd Lewis, who had been first vice-president until recently, is now a senator.
Fire destroys farm shed near Listowel
Firefighters from Listowel, Atwood, and Monkton were called to a fire that destroyed a large driving shed on a farm on Highway 86 between Perth Road 140 and Perth Road 146 early Wednesday morning..
Fire Chief Janny Pape said when crews arrived on scene the shed was fully engulfed in flames.
Personnel and tanker support from the Perth East Fire Department and Mapleton Fire Rescue aided in the effort to contain and extinguish the fire.
A stretch of Highway 86 was closed by police to keep crews safe while battling the fire. It was reopened just before noon.
No one was hurt in the fire, but the shed and its contents were destroyed. No loss estimate has been given.
"The cause [of the fire] has not been determined at this time, but is not considered suspicious," said Pape.
Canadians accused of cheating on dairy
Former agricultural trade ambassador Gregg Doud who is now the president and chief executive officer of the National Milk Producers Federation in the United States said Canada has cheated.
He was referring to administration of tariff-rate quotas that the United States has been unable to fill and about exports at what he called “artificially low-priced dairy protein.”
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
TB traced in Saskatchewan
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has traced a case of tuberculosis identified Nov. 29 and has found three more infected cattle in the herd whence the first case came.
Laboratory culture results found a strain that has never been identified in animals or humans in Canada, and the origin of the strain is unknown.
It is not closely related to any of the recent strains in Western Canada., the CFIA said.
MacAulay speaks to U.S. farm leaders
Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay told a meeting of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Monday that U.S. tariffs on Canadian agriculture would be devastating for both countries.
He said $200 million in agricultural and food products cross the border between the U.S. and Canada every day.
“We do our part to help feed Americans, and we know that you are vital to providing us in Canada with products that we so vitally need,” MacAulay said.
For several states, Canada is the largest market for livestock, processed foods and even biofuels. Canada is the top market for U.S. ethanol exports, for instance.
“Any disruption … would be devastating to both of our countries,” MacAulay said. “It is in our interests to avoid that.”
MacAulay said “the ties between our two nations run deep. We have been by your side in times of war. We’ve answered your call in times of great need. We are partners, allies, neighbors, but most of all, we’re great friends.”
He said sometimes beef cattle cross the border five or six times before slaughter and Canada provides hundreds of thousands of p;igs to the U.S. every year.
Moorefield poultry barn burns
A motorist saw smoke and sounded the alarm, eventually bringing four fire departments to battle a fire in a poultry barn near Moorefield.
Approximately 40 firefighters from four stations responded: Drayton, Moorefield, Harriston and Palmerston.
There were no injuries.
The 200-foot barn is at Concession Road 8 between Sideroad 6 and Wellington County Road 10.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
CFIA suspends a licence
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has suspended the licence of Global Alliance Canada co. Ltd. of Mississauga.
It is out of business until it complies with all of the standards and regulations or the Safe Food for Canadians Act.
It imports live and raw shellfish.
Rooves collapsing from snow weight
A barn collapse northeast of Listowel has sent one person to hospital with undisclosed injuries.
Emergency crews were called to Road 146 between Perth Lines 88 and 89 in North Perth before 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
One person was hurt in the incident and had to be airlifted to hospital for treatment, OPP said. The extent of their injuries was not released.
Ontario Provincial Police posted an online photo of the damage.
There have been other roof collapses near Durham, at a Home Hardware business in Brussels and an abandoned building at Elora.
Saputo lost $518 million
Saputo has reported a loss of $518 million on sales of $4.994 billion in its third quarter.
A non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $674 million after tax was recorded in relation to the United Kingdom dairy division.
President and chief executive officer Carl Colizza seems unphased by the loss, telling investors that “we made significant strides in executing our strategic playbook and controlling costs, and benefited from accelerated contributions from our recently completed capital projects.
“Our solid cash generation also enabled us to return additional cash to shareholders through our share buyback program.
“We’re confident in our ability to continue generating steady cash flows and we intend to focus our capital allocation strategy on share repurchases.”
Making milk in a factory
Brown Foods of Boston said it has managed to make milk in a laboratory and is hoping to open factories in India and the United States.
According to its founders, UnReal Milk is produced using mammalian cell culture— replicating the nutrition, taste, and texture of traditional dairy.
It can be processed into butter, cheese, and ice cream, offering a lower-carbon, humane alternative to conventional milk. Brown Foods claims its production method slashes carbon emissions by 82 per cent, water use by 90 per cent and land use by 95 per cent without relying on livestock.
“The future of food faces significant challenges,” said Sohail Gupta, co-founder and chief executive officer of Brown Foods; his partners are Bhavna Tandon and Avhijeet Kapoor.
It raised $2.36 million in seed funding from investors including Y Combinator, AgFunder, SRI Capital, Amino Capital, and Collaborative Fund.
It will be competing with a number of other innovators.
Remilk and Perfect Day are using precision fermentation to produce dairy-identical proteins, but not complete milk.
Senara, a German startup, is growing cell-cultured mammary cells in partnership with dairy farmers, blending biotechnology with traditional milk production.
Wilk, an Israeli venture, focuses on producing cultured milk fats, used in making cheese and yogurt.
These approaches contrast with UnReal Milk, which is taking a fully lab-based route, aiming to replicate whole cow’s milk without relying on livestock or traditional dairy systems.
The National Milk Producers Federation has asked the Food and Drug Administration to ban precision fermentation startups from labeling their products as “milk”, citing regulatory standards.
Maple Leaf sales, profits up
Maple Leaf Foods reported a profit of $53.5-million in its fourth quarter compared with a loss of $9.3-million a year earlier.
Sales for the quarter totalled $1.24-billion, up from $1.19-billion in the last three months of 2023.
The company said prepared foods sales were up by 4.6 per cent, prepared meats up by 6.5 per cent, pork up by 3.5 per cent and poultry up by 1.8 per cent. Plant protein sales were down by 10.3 per cent.
Monday, February 24, 2025
Avian flu in Wellington County
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said highly-pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed in a backyard flock in Wellington County.
The birds include chickens, geese, a turkey, peacocks, and ducks.
A quarantine zone near Strathroy has been lifted.
Butter thieves nabbed in Owen Sound
An off-duty security guard is being credited with helping to thwart a trio of alleged butter thieves in Owen Sound.
A loss prevention officer saw three men stealing several containers of ghee at a grocery store and after they left in a car, he saw them again and called police who arrested three men, two from Brampton and another from Caledon.
Police also recovered more than $1,000 worth of butter and $300 worth of ghee, which is an Indian type of butter.
Beef supply will decline
Rabobank predicts beef supplies will decline this year, particularly after mid-summer, and send high prices even higher.
It predicts per capita beef supplies this year will be 58.8 pounds, a dip from an estimated 59.6 pounds in 2024, and while beef supplies may remain stable in early 2025, due to heavier carcass weights, stronger beef imports, and feedyard inventories near year-ago levels, the pending cattle deficit will cause availability to tighten by mid-year,” the report said.
The U.S. has seen 3.8 million beef cows liquidated since a peak in 2019. That reduction, which amounts to about 12 per cent of beef cows, has left the U.S. herd at a historic, nearly 75-year low.
“Additionally, improved pasture and hay availability — along with stronger cattle and milk margins — will encourage producers to rebuild herds in both the beef and dairy sectors,” Rabobank said.
“This will further reduce the number of cattle available for slaughter, marking a critical change in market fundamentals for cattle producers and beef consumers.”
It expects cattle inventories will continue to decline through 2027 as herd rebuilding for beef and dairy cows alike, further paring the number of head available for slaughter.
It said annual U.S. beef supplies could bottom out in two years at about 54 pounds per capita.
Barring 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian beef and cattle that have been threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian beef prices will closely track what happens in the U.S.
Friday, February 21, 2025
Trump’s freeze on grants hits meat packers
The American Association of Meat Processors is lobbying to spring grant money that United States President has frozen.
“Companies that were awarded grants in 2023-24 but not given their money are finding themselves in the middle of expansions and equipment purchases without a way to move forward,” the association said in a post on its website.
It represents more than 1,600 small and medium sized meat processors nationwide and pointed to the example of Granite State Packing of Claremont, New Hampshire which was in line for $1.6 million.
Arion Thiboumery, director on the board at Granite State, said the company started construction and ordered more than $600,000 worth of equipment before it received a notice that grant money was on hold until further notice.
“This is very painful for us, as we have many expenses coming at us and no grant funds,” Thiboumery said.
Previous President Joe Biden launched a program to encourage increased competition in meat-packing at a time when meat prices were rapidly rising and the biggest packers were accused of price-fixing.
Democrats call for milk processor data
Democrats in the United States Senate and House of Representatives have introduced bills that, if passed, would require dairy processing companies to reveal their costs every two years.
Because Republicans hold majorities in both the Senate and House and recent votes have been on party lines, the bills are unlikely to be passed into law.
“Requiring manufacturers to report dairy processing costs on a biennial basis will give dairy producers, processors, and cooperatives the data they need to ensure that their prices accurate reflect the costs of production.,” the Democrats said.
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Canada buys bird flu vaccine
The federal government is buying 500,000 doses of vaccine to counter highly-pathogenic avian influenza.
Those who work with poultry will have high priority, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
That includes those involved in depopulating flocks where the virus has been detected and laboratory staff members who handle samples.
Dr. Theresa Tam said the virus poses little threat to people right now, but if it begins to transmit from person to person, the threat level would increase.
Matthew Miller, director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University, called purchasing bird flu vaccines a “prudent decision.”
“My view on this in the wake of COVID-19 is that prevention at the stage we’re at right now is way more straightforward than trying to respond once we get human-to-human transmission,” he said, “because right now, we mostly know where the risk is.”
In the United States, provisional approval has been granted for a vaccine that could be used on flocks and cattle herds.
The government there is pondering a shift from a policy of depopulating flocks to stem the spread of the virus to vaccinating flocks.
More corn, less soybeans and wheat predicted
CoBank predicts United States farmers plant more acres to corn this year, fewer to soybeans and spring wheat.
Corn prices have been buoyed by tight global stocks, strong export demand and record ethanol production and profits in livestock and poultry so more feed will be made.
“While farmers tend to stick to historical crop rotations for agronomic reasons and market diversification, corn’s price rally relative to other crops suggests a major shift in acreage is in the offing,” said Tanner Ehmke, grains and oilseeds economist with CoBank.
“We’re still several weeks away from the start of planting season, which means the acreage balance is still in flux. Multiple factors could shift how acres are traded around the U.S., but the current price environment suggests corn will be king in 2025.”
Ehmke expects corn acres to increase by 4.2 per cent to 94.5 million, soybeans to decline by 3.6 per cent to 84 million and spring wheat acres in the Northern Plains by 5.9 per cent.
He said tariffs on Canadian canola and canola oil and continued adverse weather for wheat in Russia could moderate those projected acreage declines.
Loblaws reports two profit figures
Depending on how it’s counted, either Loblaws profits declined or increased in its fourth quarter.
Without a charge to account for uncashed PC Optimum points, profits increased from $630 to $669 million, but with the charge profits declined to $541 million.
Fourth-quarter revenues increased by 2.9 per cent to $14.9 billion.
For the full year, Loblaw’s revenue increased by 2.5 per cent to approximately $61-billion.
Net earnings increased to nearly $2.2-billion compared with nearly $2.1-billion in fiscal 2023.
The company announced it plans to open 80 new stores this year, 50 of them discount stores.
Van Osch farms wins environment award
(left to right): Craig McLaughlin, BFO President; Kurt Van Osch; Carson Burtwistle, RBC; Brendon Van Osch
Van Osch Farms has been chosen winner of this year’s Environmental Stewardship Award sponsored by the RBC Royal Bank and given by Beef Farmers of Ontario.
Van Osch Farms is run by Fred, Gerald, Brendon and Kurt Osch in Middlesex County.
They have a feedlot that can hold 11,500 cattle in barns with natural light and ventilation and integrated technologies such as recirculating water bowls to eliminate hydro use.
They also use solar powered cameras to monitor feed bunks and minimize feed waste. Forty per cent of the feed ration is by-product ingredients.
“Our farm is founded on the core principle that the land is our most precious resource, and that fits well with our certification with the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef through the Ontario Corn Fed Beef Quality Assurance Program,” said Brendon Van Osch.
“We take the sustainability of our farm very seriously and utilize farming practices that ensure the soil and the natural environment are protected for our future generation.”
Van Osch Farms has projects and land use practices with Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority including planting more than 1,000 trees on their farms. This includes establishing multi-species perimeter shelterbelts at two of their large barns and planting a naturalized buffer around a pond and wetland. Shelter areas have also created homes for many species of wildlife such as deer, coyotes, rabbits. and birds.
“Van Osch Farms has adopted cover cropping as standard practice, planting hundreds of acres in cover crops each year,” said Ian Jean, Forestry and Stewardship Specialist for the Ausable Bayfield
Conservation Authority.
Brandon Van Osch said “we know that the most productive land is the land that has something alive on it. This is why we utilize
cover crops between our regular cropping seasons to feed our second most important livestock - the critters that call our soil home.”
The Van Osch family has plans to open an on-farm retail store this summer and currently offers beefthrough online sales.
Two more people get bird flu
Two more people have been infected by highly-pathogenic avian influenza, one a poultry farm worker in Ohio, the other a woman in Wyoming who kept a backyard flock. She has other medical challenges and is in hospital.
The poultry worker in Ohio is employed by a Mercer County farm that has lost more than five million birds to avian flu.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
U.S. aid cuts hit Canadian Foodgrains Bank
United States President Donald Trump’s cut to food aid has impacted a number of overseas projects supported by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
“Cutting aid in the way it’s been cut is going to cost tens of thousands of lives,” said Andy Harrington, executive director of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
He said it is impacting some projects that are funded both by US AID and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
Trump put a 90-day freeze on funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development — the agency responsible for foreign aid, including funding humanitarian organizations.
“What we can do will be a drop in the bucket, to be honest, but we do want to keep our programs running,” Harrington said.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has said that he will cut “wasteful foreign aid” and not allow funding to go to “dictators, terrorists and multinational bureaucracies, the Canadian Press reported. Poilievre said he would use the money for defense.
Canada spent $11.3 billion on international aid in 2023.
Palm Bite date squares on recall
Palm Bite date squares are being recalled because Canadian Food Inspection testing detected salmonella food-poisoning bacteria.
This recall is linked to an earlier recall of Al-Watan tahini.
There have been no reports of illness related to the date squares, the CFIA said.
The recall is limited to Ontario.
Wild boar sightings decline
The public caught sight of no Eurasian wild boars last year reported the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Despite the decline in sightings, the ministry is urging continued monitoring because the invasive pigs are quite destructive of fields and forests.
Between Apr. 1, 2023 and Mar. 31, 2024, the ministry conducted investigated 35 sites, the same as the year before..
A total of 109 reports were received, 87 of which were determined to be “unique moderate or high confidence wild pig sightings.”
No Eurasian wild boar were confirmed during the 2023-24 reporting period. Three per cent of sightings were confirmed to be Eurasian wild boar in 2022-23.
Hunting Eurasian boar is prohibited because the pigs hide if hunted and become harder to identify, enabling them to breed, reported freelance reporter Matt McIntosh.
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters reports studies from the United States that show 70 per cent of a wild pig population has to be killed just to keep it from growing. This number is “rarely if ever achieved.”
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture participated in the consultation period prior to the establishment of the province’s wild pig management strategy which included the prohibition of hunting.
Swiss Chalet nuggets on recall
Swiss Chalet chicken nuggets are under a national recall because of pieces of bone in the nuggets.
The recall was posted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The recall was issued by the company after an injury.
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