Cattlemen president has died

 Reg Schellenberg, president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, has died.

“His gentle demeanor and strong character are qualities that many of us in the industry looked up to,” said Nathan Phinney, who will now become president. 

“He will be fondly remembered for being a tireless advocate for cattle producers, taking a particular interest in advancing the priorities related to animal health and care, as well as protecting and preserving our industry for the next generation,” he said.

Schellenberg was first elected as a Cattlemen director in 2010 and became president on March 25, 2022. 

He served as co-chair of the Foreign Trade Committee from 2020 to 2022 and co- chaired the Animal Health and Care Committee with Pat Hayes from 2016 to 2020. 

He also represented CCA on the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA). Prior to the creation of the Animal Health and Care Committee, he chaired the Animal Care Committee. 

Dairy farmers give $500,000, chicken farmers $10,000

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario marketing board is giving  $500,000 in Christimas donations to hospitals for sick children in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton and London.

Chicken Farmers of Ontario’s Christmas donation is $10,000 to Daily Bread Food Bank.

Since 2019, the Dairy Farmers of Ontario has donated more than $2 million through its Milk & Cookies holiday campaign.

Inspired by the tradition of leaving milk and cookies out for Santa, this year the Dairy Farmers of Ontario also created special Santa’s Milk-O-Grams for patients who cannot be home for the holidays.

These care packages are full of festive cheer and include a fun activity to prepare for Santa's arrival on December 24 (Christmas Eve)—such as a customizable milk bottle, milk coupons, a holiday card to decorate, and a plush toy.

"Through this donation to SickKids and other Ontario children's hospitals, Ontario dairy farmers are (sic) able to show how important it is to give back and nourish the communities we live and work in," said Cheryl Smith, chief executive officer (CEO) of Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

 "With our new Milk-o-Grams, we hope families who are unable to be home for the holidays can als

“Since 2015, Chicken Farmers of Ontario have been committed to giving back through the CFO Cares: Farmers to Food Banks Program to provide hunger relief across the province,” said Denise Hockaday, CEO of Chicken Farmers of Ontario. 

“We want to ensure every Ontarian can access safe, high-quality protein like chicken. Our farmers donate their fresh chicken year-round, to Ontario communities, proving food banks with a steady supply of fresh, locally grown chicken,” she said.

Meng Wanzhou freed

The United States Department of Justice is asking a judge in New York to drop all the charges it laid against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

This after the U.S. filed an application to extradite her from British Columbia to face its charges that she sold electronic communications stuff to Iran in contravention of U.S. law.

This after the Chinese government expressed its anger with Canada for engaging the Canadian courts to deal with the extradition request.

This after China banned a number of Canadian companies from selling it pork and canola.

The whole affair has gone on for four years. And now, nothing!

Canada gets no compensation, not even a thank you, from the United States.

Canada’s relations with China have been harmed.    

And this doesn’t even count the trade disruptions that former U.S. President Donald Trump caused with his tariffs on China. And it was the Trump administration that started this whole Meng Wanhou fiasco.

I hope the Canadian politicians in Ottawa will simply ignore any similar extradition requests filed by the United States.

Fat chance of that happening!

Potato Council general manager retiring

David Jones, general manager for the Canadian Potato Council for 11 years, has decided to resign effective in March.

He has also been manager of potato industry coordination for the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada.

“Being able to conclude my career representing potato growers across Canada has been extremely special to me,” said Jones. 

"Potato growers are hardworking business people and they provide a lot of value to Canadians every day. No amount of adversity slows them down, and it has been incredibly rewarding advocating for them at a national level.”

Fonterra aims for a net zero dairy farm

Fonterra of New Zealand is working with a 270-hectare dairy farm to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by the middle of 2027.

It is partnered with Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, on the project.

The five-year project will assess the dairy farm’s total carbon emissions and involves co-partner Dairy Trust Taranaki.

It aims to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by mid-2027 and achieve net zero emissions in 10 years.

The agricultural industry makes up 48 per cent of New Zealand’s overall emissions with methane from cattle and sheep the main source.

Nestle has committed to reducing its emissions by 25 per cent, dairy is a major component in that effort and it is involved in more than100 pilot projects globally, with 20 farms working out their net zero targets. 

 

Nestle New Zealand chief executive officer Jennifer Chappell said “dairy is our single biggest ingredient, and our vision is that the future for dairy can be net zero… 

“To reduce our Scope 3 emissions, it’s critical we work with dairy farmers and their communities. Working towards a net zero farm means looking at all aspects of the farm, from cow nutrition to sequestering carbon.”

New Zealand has the lowest carbon footprint for milk in the world, mainly because cows are on pasture, yet dairy farming contributes about half of the country’s agricultural livestock 

Grocery code of conduct still stalled

 Almost two years after work began, the grocery industry still has failed to come to an agreement on a code of conduct.

The federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture set up a committee in 2020 to develop a code after repeated complaints that five large supermarket chains, which account for 80 per cent of Canadian sales, abuse their power.

For example, they once all demanded suppliers discount invoices by one per cent and made the demand retroactive. And in 2020 Loblaws and Walmart increased fees they charge suppliers.

One of the key pieces that is still missing from draft proposals is how disputes will be settled.

“The legal construct and the adjudication process are critical pillars of the overall code,” Michael Graydon, co-chair of the steering committee developing the code and chief executive of Food and Consumer Products of Canada, told the Toronto Globe and Mail. The committee is making progress on plans for a non-profit adjudicator’s office, he said, which would be industry-funded.

Enforcement will be a balancing act, because an adjudicator would need to be given the teeth to ensure compliance, while not being so punitive that companies refuse to participate in what is ultimately a voluntary process.

“This is a $100-billion industry that we’re trying to get under control,” he said. 

“That we’ve got a set of provisions that we’re all comfortable with is remarkable.”

One of the issues is the demands by dominant supermarket chains that they get all of the supply they want. When supplies are short, it means suppliers will short-change weaker and smaller customers so they can retain their big buyers.

“That element of fair allocation is critically important,” Mr. Graydon said.

Another notable element of the draft is a rule establishing guardrails around those compliance fines. It encourages suppliers and retailers to agree in writing when such fines can be charged; otherwise “reasonable notice” and “substantiation” must be provided, with an opportunity to dispute the fine. 

Such a rule would work against current circumstances where fines are deducted from payments, and companies haggle after the fact over whether the deductions should be reversed.

The proposed code provisions are now undergoing industry consultation, and could change based on input, Mr. Graydon said.

On Nov. 18, the Food and Beverage Canada organization pulled out of the discussions, saying there is a major flaw because he proposed code “will be insufficient to address the needs of Canada’s small and mid-sized food manufacturers,” in part because it still relies too heavily on the contracts that suppliers and retailers negotiate with each other, “without actually addressing the underlying imbalance of negotiating power.”

                                    

 

Maple Leaf spurns hacker ransom request

Maple Leaf Foods said it will not pay a ransom demand from cyber criminals who breached its computer systems in early November.

But JBS paid $11 million ransom to hackers in 2021. Two people in Romania were arrested.

The Maple Leaf hackers are threatening to release some company data if they are not paid, but the company told Meatingplace Magazine it won’t pay.

"The illegal acts that compromised our system and potentially put information at risk are intolerable and our company will not pay ransom to criminals," the company told Meatingplace in an email.

It said all of its plants continued to operate despite the incident, which caused a system outage. The systems were quickly restored.

Maple Leaf said it has invested significant resources in its security systems, takes the confidentiality and security of the information in its possession seriously, and is taking action to minimize any disruptions.

"We continue to coordinate with our customers, suppliers and other partners, and appreciate their ongoing cooperation and support as our operations return to normal," Maple Leaf said, adding, "We’re sorry  this occurred and apologize for the frustration and challenges it may cause."