Two added to appeals tribunal

David Fawcett of Markdale and Peter Koroneos of Smithville have been appointed to two-year terms on the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal.

Fawcett is finance manager for Creative Marketing and Communications and Koroneos is a chicken farmer who has been a director of Farm Fresh Poultry co-operative.

Infant formula on recall

Abbott Laboratories is recalling Abbott brand Calcilo XD powder from the marketplace due to rancidity and off-colour. 

There have been consumer complaints, said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on its website.

However, the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website makes no mention of the product and recall.

                         

Neonics harmful to birds

Add birds to pollinators, such as bees, that are harmed by neonicitinoid seed treatment products.

White-crowned sparrows that ate a tiny dose of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid — equivalent to a just a few coated seeds and far below the lethal dose — lost their appetite, quickly lost weight at a time when they should be fattening up and delayed their migration to their breeding ground by several days, report researchers at the University of Saskatchewan and York University in the journal Science.

"Just a few days (delay) can have a significant effect on their future reproduction and survival," said Margaret Eng, lead author of the new study. 

Eng is a postdoctoral researcher working with Christy Morrissey, an ecotoxicology professor at the University of Saskatchewan.

The study also suggests that neonics may not be as harmless to vertebrates such as birds as previously thought.

"The most important thing is that it's not just pollinators and bees that are badly affected by neonicotinoids," said Bridget Stutchbury, a professor of biology at York University who also co-authored the study. "That's kind of alarming."

Remember a couple of years ago when beekeepers first began to complain about neonicitinoids that leaders of the Ontario grain industry tried to poo-poo their concerns. How things change!

China relents on pork tariff

China will exclude United States’ pork and soybeans from additional tariffs of 10 per cent placed on imports of U.S. products, the government news agency reported today.

The report follows the U.S. decision to adjust new tariffs on Chinese goods that had been planned to take effect Oct. 1.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would delay imposing tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods by two weeks, to Oct. 15, calling the decision a gesture of goodwill.

There have been preliminary talks to prepare for another round of trade negotiations.

Long list of delicatessens on recall

Les Spécialités Prodal (1975) Ltée is recalling a long list of pâtés, mousses, terrines and rillettes from the marketplace due to possible food-poisoning Listeria monocytogenes contamination. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said people should not consume and distributors, retailers and food service establishments should not sell or use the recalled products.

Some of these products have been sold over the counter and without a label, so the CFIA said people who are unsure whether they bought some up to and including Sept. 12 should contact their retailer.

The list of products is:

Brand Name	Common Name	Size	UPC	Code(s) on Product
The Deli-Shop	Country-style Pâté – Cognac	150 g	0 59749 95188 3	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
The Deli-Shop	Country-style Pâté – Pepper	150 g	0 59749 95189 0	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
The Deli-Shop	Country-style Pâté – Old Fashioned	150 g	0 59749 95187 6	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
The Deli-Shop	Liver Pâté – Fine Herbs	150 g	0 59749 95191 3	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
The Deli-Shop	Liver Pâté – Garlic	150 g	0 59749 95190 6	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
The Deli-Shop	Liver Pâté – Old Fashioned	150 g	0 59749 95192 0	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Paysan	Country-style Pâté	2 x 100 g	0 68104 02286 1	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Paysan	Country-style Pâté with black pepper	2 x 100 g	0 68104 02287 8	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Paysan	Liver Pâté	2 x 100 g	0 68104 02288 5	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Paysan	Liver Pâté with garlic	2 x 100 g	0 68104 02289 2	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Première moisson	Poultry rillettes	125 g	0 29145 13471 5	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Première moisson	Liver pâté	125 g	0 29145 50006 0	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Première moisson	Country-style pâté	125 g	0 29145 50506 5	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Première moisson	Black peppercorn country-style pâté	125 g	0 29145 50516 4	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Première moisson	Country-style pâté with cognac	125 g	0 29145 50526 3	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Première moisson	Duck and pork à l'orange terrine	125 g	0 29145 51006 9	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Première moisson	Rabbit and pork terrine with white wine	125 g	0 29145 51126 4	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Première moisson	Poultry liver mousse with port	125 g	0 29145 52506 3	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Première moisson	Rillettes du Mans	125 g	0 29145 52006 8	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC12
Les Specialites Prodal (1975) Ltee	Country style pate with cognac	Variable	Variable	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC18
Les Specialites Prodal (1975) Ltee	Country style pate	Variable	Variable	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC18
Les Specialites Prodal (1975) Ltee	Country style pate with pepper	Variable	Variable	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC18
Les Specialites Prodal (1975) Ltee	Liver pate	Variable	Variable	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC18
Les Specialites Prodal (1975) Ltee	Liver pate with garlic	Variable	Variable	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC18
Les Specialites Prodal (1975) Ltee	Liver pate with fine herbs	Variable	Variable	All Best Before dates up to and including 2019OC18

                      

UG gets $1.1 million for livestock research

The province has announced it will provide $1.1 million for livestock research at the University of Guelph.

The research projects include:

• Assessing health and precision technologies to improve dairy cow fertility;

• Investigating nutrition strategies to improve the health and growth of pigs;

• Research to guide antibiotic use in the goat industry;

• Enhancing natural fertility in dairy cows through health and precision technologies;

• A machine learning approach to illness surveillance in swine populations, and

• Assessing alternative feeds to improve health and productivity in chickens.

“The University of Guelph is deeply committed to animal health and welfare, as highlighted by world-leading research that promotes animal well-being and the productivity of livestock,” said Malcolm Campbell, vice-president  for research. 

Nutrien to shutter potash plants

Nutrien announced plans to shut down three potash mines in Saskatchewan the day after Mosaic announced it will close its potash mine in Louisiana on Oct. 1.

Nutrien’s move will reduce production by 700, 000 tonnes and Mosaic’s will reduce it by 500,000 tonnes.

They are trying to reduce inventories so prices will rise. Together they account for almost all potash production in North America.

Nutrien said it will shutter at Allan, Lanigan and Vanscoy, Sask., for eight weeks.