Flu-resistant chickens under development

The first chickens that are resistant to influenza have been hatched at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Wendy Barclay, a professor of virology at Imperial College London who is co-leading the project, said the chickens are missing a gene that influenza viruses need to infect chickens.

The development could put an end to concerns that chickens spread influenza to humans and pigs.

New influenza epidemics have often arisen in Asia where chickens are kept in close proximity to people’s homes.

The research project used CRISPR gene-editing technology that has been used to quickly make significant advances for the livestock and and poultry industries.

Among those advances are cattle unable to grow horns, male pigs that can’t reach puberty which is associated with an offensive odour when their pork is cooked and pigs resistant to two types of worrisome viruses.

                           

African Swine Fever claims another large herd

African Swine Fever has claimed a second large-scale hog farm in China, this time a herd of 73,000 in Suihua city in northeastern Heilongjiang province.

The second-largest herd wiped out by the disease had 69,000 hogs in Siyang County.

The latest outbreak is a farm which has investment from a company based in Denmark.

Heilongjiang Asia-Europe Animal Husbandry was formed in 2016.

The farm’s herd included 15,000 breeding pigs, according to its website, and it was aiming to produce 385,000 pigs for slaughter a year

Officials with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said 4,686 pigs had been infected and 3,766 died.

Australia finds swine fever

Australian officials have found African Swine Fever in six pork products imported from China.

Testing identified the highly-contagious and deadly disease for pigs during testing of 152 samples gathered at airports and mail processing centres.

There have been no reports of the disease affecting any of Australia’s herds.

Australia has 2,500 farmers who raise hogs and 36,000 workers in the pork supply chain, according to Australian Pork Ltd.

Over the weekend, China reported another outbreak killed 13 pigs in a herd of 57 in Ningxia province, the first outbreak there are now the 25^thprovince hit by the disease.

While Australia’s findings clearly demonstrate the risks associated with importing pork from China, officials say the biggest risk is people travelling to and from China.

I think it would be wise to prohibit anybody who has been in China within the last year to set foot on a Canadian hog farm.

Golden Products appeals CFIA fine

Cambridge - Golden Ontario Products Inc., a meat-packing company based in Mount Forest, is investing three days in a federal agriculture appeals tribunal hearing here, arguing it was unfairly fined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The company was fined $10,000 for failure to comply with standards for filing acceptable paperwork related to its Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan.

The company failed an audit and had 60 days to comply, but that 60 days was when construction was underway to double the size of the plant to about 20,000 square feet, said majority owner Nancy Kingsley-Hu.

She told Ontario Farmer that she received no communications from the CFIA over that 60-day period, so had no opportunity to explain the situation and that she was in the process of generating new HACCP plans for the expanded plant.

The company received a licence last year to export beef to China. Kingsley-Hu used to live in Shanghai, was a trader, and recognized the export opportunity.

Tribunal chairman Luc Belanger is likely to take some time at the conclusion of the hearing this week to write his decision.

The tribunal hears appeals from people who feel aggrieved by the Canadian Border Services Agency and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

China offers to buy more from U.S.

China has offered to increase purchases of United States goods and services by $1 trillion over the next six years, said a report by Bloomberg news agency.

The offer was made during trade negotiations to halt the escalation of tariffs between the two.

Bloomberg said U.S. negotiators asked for even more – an elimination of the trade deficit within two years. China said its offer would eliminate it by 2024. It stood at $323 billion last year.

China has already increased its purchasing of U.S. soybeans in an effort to help trade negotiations.

China's tariffs on U.S. goods, including pork, have sideswiped Canadian farmers. For example, pig prices have plunged to below the cost of production for some Canadian farmers.

There is news now that China’s economy has slowed to the lowest level in 20 years, yet it is still growing.

Lorne Hepworth named chair of ARIO

Former Saskatchewan agriculture minister Lorne Hepworth has been appointed to a three-year term as chairman of the Agriculture Research Institute of Ontario.

The ARIO advises the Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs about research priorities and policies.

Hepworth was also chief executive officer for CropLife Canada, as association for the pesticide industry.

Appointments to several other agriculture-related positions were posted online recently, including:

- Tanya Haverkamp of Listowel and Kim Systma of Athens to the Business Risk Management Review Board.

- Veterinarian Catherine Fileiski of Toronto to the Livestock Medicines Advisory Committee. She works for Ministry of Health and has been co-chair of the Canadian Rabies Committee.

Cambridge votes against Bill 66

Cambridge Council has voted 8-0 against Bill 66 which the Ford government calls “Open For Business”.

The bill would allow municipalities to waive restrictions on development, such as environmental and farmland protections.

Stephanie Sobek-Swank, speaking for the Rare Charitable Research Reserve, said important environmental sites need to remain off limits to developers.

The Reserve is on a large farm on the banks of the Grand River near Blair that was deeded to the University of Guelph which sold it because it said it didn’t need it.

Earlier this week the Waterloo Region Council also voted against Bill 66. 

Among those who urged Waterloo to take that stance was the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture.