A bonus offered for feeding Enogen corn

 

Farmers who feed Enogen corn will be eligible for four cents per day per animal, but for now only in the United States.

McDonald’s restaurant chain is teaming with Syngenta which markets Enogen on the subsidy which aims to capture five per cent feed efficiency improvement and thus lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Syngenta said Canada is a high priority for being added to the program.

Enogen contains more alpha-amylase enzyme which improves the conversion of starch to sugars.

In return for the payment from Syngenta,  McDonald’s owns the carbon intensity offset asset.

Producers also have to commit to feeding Enogen corn at 50 per cent of the starch in the cattle’s ration on a dry matter basis in a Total Mixed Ration. 

The corn can be in any form that’s usually fed on a farm, including silage, high moisture corn or grain corn. 

Enogen is approved for food and feed use in North America, but not for sale to consumers because it’s different from most corn.

It can be used to produce ethanol.

Sterilizing wild pigs

 

Genetically engineering wild boars could render female offspring sterile and eventually wipe out the species, hopes Ray Lu of the University of Guelph.

He is adapting an idea that helped knock out malaria-carrying mosquitos.

“I do believe this is a potential solution,” said Ray Lu, associate professor in the university’s molecular and cellular biology department.

A Saskatcehwan innovator Imported Eurasian wild boars in the 1980s for hunting and meat, says the Canadian Council on Invasive Species. 

Some of those pigs escaped or were released into the wild, where they’ve since adapted and thrived.

They now rip up fields and pose a threat to spread diseases to commercial herds. The main concern is deadly and highly-contagious African Swine Fever which infects wild pigs in  Europe and Asia.

Feds invest $17.41 million in Thames River

 

The Canada Water Agency has committed $17.41 million over four years to support the Thames River Phosphorus Reduction Program.

There will be money for farmers who reduce phosphorous runoff.

The funds will be managed by the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.

In 2022, phosphorus loading from Canada to Lake Erie reached 2,091 tonnes, with approximately 53 per cent of phosphorus in the Huron-Erie corridor – encompassing the Thames River – originating from non-point sources. 

The conservation authority said this program is an essential step in reducing phosphorus levels and protecting freshwater resources.

JBS his record profit

 

JBS posted a record profit of 3.8 billion Brazilian reals for its third fiscal quarter, more than 5.7 times as much as a year ago.

Its beef business on Brazil led its results.

JBS Beef North America reported a six per cent increase in net revenue to $6.3 billion US.

Loblaws sales and profits rise

Loblaws reported a 6.7 per cent increase in profits to $777 million for its third quarter.

Revenues increased by 1.5 per cent to $16.5 billion.

The best results were for its discount stores. 

It opened 25 new No Frills stores in the quarter. It is also testing three new No Name stores that pare down prices further by lowering operating costs. the stores carry a narrower assortment of products and do not have refrigerators.

A previous charge related to a commodity tax matter at President’s Choice Bank was reversed during the quarter, after Loblaw won a legal appeal. That change positively affected the company’s net earnings by $125-million, offset by the amortization of assets related to Shoppers Drug Mart and the Lifemark chain of clinics.

Including those and other adjustments in the same quarter the previous year, adjusted net earnings available to common shareholders were $767-million compared to $719-million last year.

Agropur promotes Dubé

Jean-François Dubé has been appointed senior vice president of operations at Agropur. 

He will oversee operations at the company’s 29 production facilities in Canada and the U.S.

Dubé was previously vice president of strategic initiatives and organizational transformation.

Maple Leaf sales, profits up

 

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $17.7-million compared with a loss of $4.3-million in the same quarter last year.

Sales for the quarter totalled $1.26-billion, up from $1.24-billion a year ago.

It said its plan to create Canada Packers Inc. to take over its pork business is taking longer than anticipated because it needs to gain Canada Revenue Agency’s opinion of its “butterfly reorganization”.