The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is looking into “possible linkages” between 45 cases of E. coli-related illness this summer from B.C. to New Brunswick — and that involves “actively investigating” a closed meat plant in Alberta. CFIA and the Public Health Agency of Canada, in an information bulletin issued late Friday, said they will examine […] Read more
CFIA suspects link in E. coli cases nationwide
Alta. government to rethink water licensing policy
Alberta’s provincial environment department won’t accept any applications for amendments of water licenses while it re-examines that policy for the South Saskatchewan River basin. The moratorium on amendment applications comes after a request in August from the Eastern Irrigation District, based at Brooks, for an amendment that would allow the district to deliver water “for […] Read more
Corn trait wins EU approval: Monsanto
A European Union decision to allow imports of a Monsanto corn variety that “stacks” traits for corn borer resistance and Roundup herbicide tolerance is good news for Canadian corn growers, the company said Thursday. Monsanto reported that the EU will allow its YieldGard Corn Borer (MON 810) hybrid varieties for food and feed use. The […] Read more
PotashCorp posts record Q3
Predicting price hikes for its main product on tighter supplies in 2008, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan on Thursday announced record third-quarter earnings, also the second-highest quarterly earnings in its history. PotashCorp reported a net income of $243.1 million on $1.3 billion in sales for the quarter, up from $145.2 million on $953.5 million in the […] Read more
Maple Leaf improves Q3 in mid-restructuring
Cost-cutting and price hikes helped offset higher costs for corn, wheat and other inputs on Maple Leaf’s third-quarter bottom line, the company reported Thursday. The quarter ending Sept. 30 included an after-tax gain of $218 million on the sale of Maple Leaf’s animal feed businesses to Dutch firm Nutreco, which led to skewed net earnings […] Read more
Hog inventories continue falling: StatsCan
Inventories of hogs in Canada fell for the second quarter in a row on softening slaughter prices and escalating feed costs, even while international demand for Canadian hogs and pork remains high, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. Canada had 14.4 million hogs on farms as of October 1, down 3.1 per cent from the year-earlier date […] Read more
Quebec sees net farm income “stability” in ’07
Farmers in Quebec can expect to end 2007 with total net farm income in the neighbourhood of $425 million, showing a “relative stability” across the ag sector overall, according to a new economic report from the provincial farm lender. L’Agroindicateur, an index released annually by La Financiere agricole based on its own data and federal […] Read more
B.C. to freeze rural representation
British Columbia’s provincial government has proposed an electoral district system that will keep rural representation in its legislative assembly at a set level while allowing for more MLAs in areas seeing population growth. Amendments introduced Wednesday will direct the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission to recommend 87 electoral districts, up from 79 today. From those 87, […] Read more
Tight stocks drive record highs for durum: PRO
The Canadian Wheat Board boosted its 2007-08 pool return outlooks (PROs) $27 per tonne for milling durum on Thursday, reflecting what it calls “extremely tight” stocks worldwide. Milling wheat PROs dropped $2 to $5, reflecting a “highly volatile” trend as world wheat prices come down off record highs from previous weeks, the CWB said. Feed […] Read more
Health Canada launches food recall database
Health Canada has put up a new searchable database of food and children’s product recalls for Canadian consumers. The site, at www.healthycanadians.gc.ca, includes separate listings of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s food alerts and recalls, Health Canada’s children’s toy and product recalls and a search function to check for specific products. The food recall listing, […] Read more
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