Avian flu infects more dairy cattle

 

The United States Department of Agriculture said more cases of dairy cattle infected with highly-pathogenic avian influenza are turning up.

To date, 12 cases have been confirmed in dairy cattle in five states, it said. 

There are four cattle in Texas, two in Kansas, one each in Michigan and New Mexico and Idaho State Department of Agriculture said it has one.

The Idaho farm had bought an animal from an infected herd in Texas.

Veterinarian Fred Gingrich who is executive director for the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), said the virus identified in affected dairy cows is the same virus that has affected the U.S. poultry industry since 2022.

“The assumption is the initial herds were affected by wild migratory birds,” Gingrich told Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk.

Windsor Salt closing Ojibway Mine

 

Windsor Salt is closing the Ojibway Mine and laying off all but 18 workers.

A collective agreement between Morton Salt, which owns Windsor Salt, and Unifor Local 240 and 1959 was reached in August 2023 after a 192-day strike. At that time, the two unions represented around 250 employees.

“The company currently does not know how long the layoff will last," the company's spokesman said.

"We plan to regularly evaluate market and other conditions to determine when mining operations will resume.

“Operations at the Windsor evaporative salt plant will continue as normal and not be subject to any layoffs.” 

Health leaders assuage bird flu anxieties

Health authorities in the United States are trying to assuage fears that bird flu that has recently spread to dairy cattle poses little threat to humans.

GlobalData company said this poses another challenge to maintain public trust in the meat and dairy industry that has evolved into some huge operations with thousands of animals.

So far there have been dairy cattle in Kansas, Texas and Idaho that have contracted avian influenza, but so far only one person in Texas.

The United States Centers for Disease Control emphasized that the public has a low risk of catching the virus, which can spread through close contact with infected birds. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not expect the bird flu cases in cattle to affect food safety or supply in the U.S., given that pasteurization kills bacteria and viruses, including this strain of bird flu.

Katrina Diamonon, principal analyst at GlobalData, said “despite assurances from health authorities, it will be difficult for consumers to detach this concerning news story from their own experiences. 

“Many will inevitably be worried about how the spread of this virus may affect the safety of the meat and dairy products they consume.

“There is also residual anxiety and fear following the unprecedented and devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Even though there is no definitive proof of how the pandemic started, one prominent theory is that the virus emerged in wild animals and spread to humans at the market. 

“This has naturally served to raise suspicion about the meat supply chain and cause consumers to rethink their choice,” Diamonon said.

A survey conducted by GlobalData found that more than 27 per cent of consumers globally would consume plant-based meat or dairy alternatives for safety reasons, underscoring the perceived risks that some consumers associate with traditional animal-based products.

GlobalData said consumers are becoming increasingly aware that industrial agriculture can have significant implications for food safety due to various factors inherent in large-scale, intensive animal production systems. 

For example, the largest farms often involve high-density confinement of animals, which can facilitate the spread of pathogens, while crowded and unsanitary conditions increase the likelihood of disease transmission, leading to higher levels of contamination in animal products, it said.

Diamonon said “it is crucial to establish consumer confidence in products through clear labeling, certifications, and seals, as well as traceability and supply chain information. 

"No brand is immune from food safety scares, but proactive reassurances from brands can help regain consumer trust,” she said.

NFU opposes Wilmot land grab

The National Farmers Union is opposing the forced sale of six farms and six homes totaling 770 acres in Wilmot Township, south-east of New Hamburg.

There is widespread speculation that the Waterloo Region is buying the land at the behest of the provincial government for a site for Toyota to build a battery plant and possibly also an electric vehicle assembly plant.

It is no secret that Toyota has been seeking a site in either the United States or southwestern Ontario where it has assembly plants in Cambridge and Woodstock.

The property owners have been approached by offers of $35,000 an acre and threats to expropriate if they did not agree before a deadline of Mar. 20.

But more than one of the farmers was approached earlier by the Vive development company with an offer of $85,000 an acre. The farmers have spurned both offers because they don’t want to move.

It’s mysterious that Vive sought to buy the land which is zoned agriculture, has neither water nor sewer services and stretches to within metres of wells pumping water to Kitchener. That land has been deemed at risk of polluting the city-well aquifer.

The National Farmers Union is calling the land purchases bullying and farmland theft.

Municipal officials and politicians refuse to reveal any information, claiming they are involved in nondisclosure agreements.

“We cannot stand idly by as our political leaders make decisions behind closed doors that will permanently destroy our finite prime farmland,” said NFU president Jenn Pfenning.

The Pfenning family is a long-established and large organic farming operation with 10 kilometres of the land assembly in Wilmot Township..

 “I encourage all Ontarians to fight back against this undemocratic assault on our food system by signing one or both petitions, writing letters to their local leaders, and joining us in our call to keep farmland for farmers,” she said.

Mark Reusser, president of the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture, has also spoken out against the land assembly.

Ontario Realty Corporation has enlisted an American company to try to buy the farms. Ontario Realty Company is operating for the provincial government and the Region of Waterloo government.

Others who have spoken out against the land assembly are Waterloo MPP Catheriine Fife and Green Party leader Mike Schreiner of Guelph.

The Waterloo Region Record has carried a multitude of stories about the secrecy surrounding the land assembly, including one day when the entire front page was devoted to the issue.

Mexico joins Canada on COOL protest

 

Mexico has served notice on the United States that it objects to the United States Department of Agriculture’s new rule governing the labeling of foods Product of USA.

Mexico is echoing concerns that Canada raised as soon as the new rule was introduced.

Mexico’s Ministry of Economy has asked the U.S. government to reconsider the rule while maintaining dialogue on bilateral trade. 

The ministry said the rule, which restricts use of the label to products exclusively produced and processed in the U.S., discriminates against Mexican producers and could compromise what is now $3 billion worth of annual trade in Mexican cattle and beef exports.

The ministry further contended the measure could disrupt food supply chains and add costs that will be paid by Mexican producers, but more so by American consumers.

Mexican officials also argue the measure contravenes the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and is counterproductive at a time when the three nations are more connected in trade than ever.

They cited the World Trade Organization’s ruling in 2002 against a similar U.S. labeling law that Mexico said cost it $227 million. Canada claimed that law cost Canadians billions.

Mexico asked for constructive dialogue but also noted it could appeal to the USMCA pact and the WTO to force the U.S. to comply with its commitments related to Technical Barriers to Trade.

U.S. beef trade groups, such as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, think the new rules are wonderful for clarifying for consumers the origin of U.S. beef products.

Feds promise school lunches – again

The Trudeau government repeated its promise to launch a school lunch program at an event in Toronto on Monday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland promised $1 billion over five years which they said is enough for 400,000 children.

The national program will "take pressure off of families, invest directly in the future of our kids and make sure they're able to reach their full potential — feeling healthy and happy," Trudeau said in a statement.

Trudeau first made the promise in 2021.

Canada is the only G7 country that does not have a national school food program, according to the Breakfast Club of Canada. Advocates have argued that a national program is needed to fill gaps left by a patchwork of provincial, local and charitable programs that are under strain due to low resources and high food prices.

Experience in the United States indicates that a national program will trigger intense lobbying by farm commodity groups to have their products included.

                      

 

 

Cold treatment rids seeds of mycotoxins

A cold treatment has been found effective in eliminating moulds and mycotoxins that contaminate seeds, reports Ehsan Feizollahi who led a team of researchers at the University of Alberta who made the discovery.

It is a solution to a challenge that has plagued Ontario harvests of wheat the corn, making them unfit for human consumption and a risk in livestock feed rations.

This cold plasma method successfully reduced toxin levels by 54 per cent and further research may increase that effectiveness.. 

The benefits extend beyond decontamination. Treating barley with cold plasma-activated water not only reduced toxins but also improved seed germination by 10 to 13 per cent. This can lead to increased crop yields and improved efficiency in the malting industry. 

Cold plasma treatments are fast, taking only minutes to hours and leave no residues. 

“With optimization for the conditions, figuring in factors such as the type of plasma, treatment conditionals and treatment time, we could achieve much more reduction than 54 per cent. Ultimately, that means farmers could use more of their grain, so there’s less waste, and from the health point of view, humans and animals can consume the grain and not be affected by mycotoxins,” said Dr. M.S. Roopesh, Feizollahi’s supervisor.

Feizollahi created two forms of the plasma — one as an ionized gas and one as liquid — and then used them to treat barley and wheat grains infected with two mycotoxins that are particularly troublesome in Canada, called zearalenone and deoxynivalenol.

Cold plasma can also decontaminate the water used in the steeping process, reducing waste and promoting sustainability. 

In the field of physics, plasma is considered the fourth state of matter along with solid, liquid and gas, and has been attracting attention over the past few years, notes professor M.S. Roopesh, who supervised Feizollahi’s work and studies the wider applications of atmospheric cold plasma through the University of Alberta’s  Food Safety and Sustainability Engineering Research lab.

The University of Alberta is exploring licensing opportunities for this technology and further research is underway to scale it up for commercial use. 

“These advancements offer exciting possibilities for a brighter future for Canadian grain production,” the university said in a news release.

It estimates that about 25 per cent of the Canadian grain harvest is contaminated by some degree of moulds and mycotoxins.