Maple Leaf has half its sow housing converted

Maple Leaf Foods said it has spent $55 million converting 31 barns to loose housing for 40,000 sows.

It said it “is on track to transition all sows under its management by the end of 2021 and become the first large-scale producer to achieve this milestone in North America.”

The conversions began after animal welfare groups pressured retailers, such as McDonald’s and Loblaws, to commit to marketing only pork that has been raised without putting gestating sows into stalls.

Maple Leaf said it’s conversions “will position Maple Leaf to be a supplier of choice to retail and foodservice customers across North America, well ahead of their deadline to only sourcing pork from open housing systems by 2024, and to meet the requirements of the National Farm Animal Care Council Code of Practice.”

Opinion piece: World Trade Organization losing its teeth

The World Trade Organization is losing its ability to police cheaters and dissidents.

The United States has refused to appoint judges that sit on disputes-settling panels that rule on complaints about countries breaking the terms of the world trade agreements they have signed.

Without judges, there can’t be panels. Without panels, the WTO can’t settle disputes. And so countries can snub the rules with impugnity, which is exactly what United States President Donald Trump has done with tariffs on steel and aluminum, and then the countries, including Canada, that have hit back with tariffs.

Normally these tariffs would trigger a complaint and a disputes-settling panel would be set up and decide.

And only after a country loses can the aggrieved country apply measures to punish the perpetrator, usually in the form of retaliatory tariffs.

So what will happen if the WTO discipline collapses?

Nobody is sure, but nobody but Trump seems to welcome any of the likely outcomes.

Reuters News Agency reports from Geneva that the WTO partners seem helpless in the face of the U.S. defiance.

The European Union has made proposals to reform the way the judges work, but U.S. Ambassador Dennis Shea poured cold water on several of them on Thursday, saying appeals judges had “strayed” from what was agreed when the WTO was set up in 1995.

One diplomat from a large developing country said on Friday the United States regretted setting up the appeals system and it was not putting forward any ideas to reform it.

“We have no leverage,” he said. “The other side is flexing its muscles.”

“Moral suasion is all that is left,” said a Geneva-based trade lawyer, Reuters reported.

Another trade lawyer and former negotiator for a U.S. ally said various alternatives being put forward were “band-aids.”

“I don’t think there’s anything right now that the other (WTO) members can do. And I don’t think that any of these other band-aid solutions amount to anything,” he said.

A trade lawyer and former staffer on the Appellate Body’s secretariat said the United States was using hard leverage in many areas of trade, with its tariff war and regional trade agreements as well as at the WTO.

It’s against this backdrop that Canada bargained hard during the NAFTA negotiations to retain Chapter 11, a disputes-settling system.

Trading away less than four per cent of the dairy market and some of the poultry markets seems picayune in the context of the WTO developments.

                  

Irradiation works on ready-to-eat food

New research has shown X-ray irradiation has the potential to be used as a novel non-thermal process for inactivating foodborne pathogens in post-packaged ready-to-eat (RTE) deli food products without compromising product quality, reports Meatingplace magazine.

Researchers at Hankyong National University in South Korea report that X-ray irradiation significantly reduced Salmonella Typhimurium, E. coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes in RTE ham slices by 5.7, 7.2, and 6.9 log CFU/g, respectively. 

They also found that X-ray irradiation applied up to 0.8 kGy did not negatively affect product quality attributes such as color and texture of the sliced ham products.

Sow deaths rising at “alarming rate”

Researchers in the United States believe an “alarming” increase in sow mortality could be linked to a rise in sow prolapse.

This week (1 October 2018), a report was released by The Guardian, in collaboration with Civil Eats, which highlighted the concerning number of sow deaths currently observed in the U.S.

According to statistics provided by National Hog Farmer, sow mortality increased from 5.8 percent to 10.2 percent on sow farms with more than 125 pigs, between 2013 and 2016, and mortalities are continuing to rise.

This rise in sow deaths has been significantly linked to an increase in prolapse, a phenomenon caused by the collapse of the animal’s rectum, vagina, or uterus.

A report by Successful Farming indicated that, on some farms, between 25 and 50 percent of deaths were caused by prolapse.

Research is underway to determine the reasons for the sudden increase in sow prolapse and subsequent deaths but, to date, this has been inconclusive.

Due to the prevalence of the condition in predominantly intensive farming, it has been speculated that intensive breeding methods and sow confinement could be causative factors.

According to U.S.D.A, statistics, a commercial sow will now mother an average of 23.5 piglets per year, a number that far exceeds their natural reproductive capacity and certainly exceeds that of smaller-scale units.

A number of other potential causes have also been discussed which include, vitamin deficiency; mycotoxins in feed; high density diets; and abdominal abnormalities.

Vets and industry members are said to be tackling the issue head-on but, with a number of potential causes for the mortalities being observed, determining a universal solution, and quickly, is proving difficult.

Maple Leaf is buying VIAU Foods

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has a deal to buy VIAU Foods, a Quebec-based company that makes Italian cooked, dry-cured and charcuterie meats,  for $215 million, including $30 million in Maple Leaf stock.

VIAU has annual sales of $180 million and employs 470 workers at plants at Montreal and Laval.
Michael McCain, president and chief executive officer for Maple Leaf, said "VIAU brings a portfolio of leading brands, a reputation for innovation and quality, skilled management and people, and excellent manufacturing assets.

"This acquisition expands Maple Leaf's position in the growing market for premium dry cured and pepperoni meat products and provides further production capacity in Quebec, an important strategic base to grow both Canadian and U.S. sales. It also enables VIAU to expand its portfolio to include raised without antibiotic products, leveraging Maple Leaf's leadership in this growing market."

Pat De Marco, president and chief operating officer for VIAU, said "It is with great pride that we join the Maple Leaf family. Our quality and food safety culture fits perfectly with Maple Leaf, the company that, for years, we have regarded as the Canadian industry leader.

“The resources that Maple Leaf brings will allow us to more quickly grow our business, provide additional product offerings to our customers, make further inroads into the U.S. market, and provide more opportunities to our people. We are truly excited about the future possibilities."

Established in 1977, VIAU produces a range of value-added prepared meat products including Italian cooked meats, sausages, pizza toppings, shaved steak and meatballs, and is the Canadian market leader in cooked and dry-cured pepperoni.

 It also produces a range of gourmet deli and premium charcuterie products including salametti, capicollo, pancetta and sliced chorizo.

VIAU is a leading supplier of dried pepperoni and other pizza toppings to the North American foodservice industry and markets its products through retailers across Canada.

U.S. dairy industry likes the trade deal

American dairy farmers and processors generally like the new trade deal with Canada, but not so much their Canadian counterparts.

Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation said “this agreement, when implemented, should give us additional marketing opportunities that will allow us to provide high-quality American dairy products to Canada, which means we’ve made incremental progress.” 

 “We appreciate that the Trump Administration continually raised the profile of our issues at the negotiating table.”

The International Dairy Foods Association, speaking for processors, said “maintaining dairy market access in Mexico and improving market access into Canada were IDFA’s top priorities during the talks

Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the IDFA, said. “this new agreement will preserve our vital partnership with both countries and allow the U.S. dairy industry to seek more export opportunities.”

“The outlines of the NAFTA pact remain intact, which will allow the U.S. agricultural sector to continue developing new international markets for our farmers,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC.

 “We also need to pursue new free trade agreements with other nations and resolve our trade conflicts with China. It is imperative that the United States remains an integral player in driving the global trade agenda.”

But in Canada, Pierre Lampron of Dairy Farmers of Canada said “this has happened, despite assurances that our government would not sign a bad deal for Canadians.

“We fail to see how this deal can be good for the 220,000 Canadian families that depend on dairy for their livelihood.”“Maintaining dairy market access in Mexico and improving market access into Canada were IDFA’s top priorities during the talks to modernize NAFTA,” adds Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA). “This new agreement will preserve our vital partnership with both countries and allow the U.S. dairy industry to seek more export opportunities.”

“The outlines of the NAFTA pact remain intact, which will allow the U.S. agricultural sector to continue developing new international markets for our farmers,” says Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC. “We also need to pursue new free trade agreements with other nations and resolve our trade conflicts with China. It is imperative that the United States remains an integral player in driving the global trade agenda.”

Poultry industry hit by trade deal

The egg concession under the new trade deal with the United States — 10 million dozen additional imports — will kick in the first year the deal takes effect, which depends on going through U.S. Senate approvals and regulatory processes.

Starting in year two, the market access for American eggs will increase by one per cent each year for the next 10 years.

The chicken concession more than doubles the market access the U.S. would have gained under the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal from which it withdrew.

The access now will be 57,000 tonnes phased in over six years, compared with the TPP at 27,000 metric tonnes phased in over 19 years. Starting in year seven of this deal, the chicken access also will increase by one per cent each year for the next 10 years.

This, says Chicken Farmers of Ontario, comes on top of the additional access granted under the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and the existing World Trade Organization access, representing more than 10.7 per cent of our existing production.

The turkey industry issued a news release saying it is still in the dark about any changes that impact it from the new trade agreement among Canada, the United States and Mexico.

The Canadian Hatching Egg Producers (CHEP) said the agreement has maintained the same level for broiler hatching egg and chick tariff rate quotas (TRQs) as under NAFTA.

The level of access remains unchanged at 17.4 per cent per year for broiler hatching eggs and 3.7 per cent for broiler chicks.

Dairy loses its Class 7 pricing defense against duty-free imports of diafiltered milk and must yield 3.5 per cent more of the domestic market to the U.S. dairy industry.