Dairy Cattle & Production Tips

Canada will not negotiate TPP in public: Ritz

Canada also paying attention to U.S. subsidy programs

By Shannon VanRaes, GFM Network News July 23, 2015

Canada’s agriculture minister says Canada won’t negotiate in public when it comes to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the proposed wide-ranging free trade agreement among a group of Pacific Rim countries. Responding to questions at an unrelated event in Winnipeg last week, Agriculture and Agri-food Minister Gerry Ritz said Canada has put forward strong proposals […] Read more

France’s Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll says “nearly 10 per cent” of the country’s livestock operations “are on the verge of going bankrupt.” (Agriculture.gouv.fr)

Beef Cattle, Dairy Cattle, Hogs, Livestock, Markets, Reuters

France says livestock crisis putting thousands of farms at risk

By Reuters, GFM Network News July 17, 2015

Paris | Reuters –– A downturn in France’s livestock sector has put thousands of farms close to bankruptcy, the government said Friday, as it seeks to contain a crisis that has undermined a flagship pledge to improve the livelihood of livestock producers. Farmers say a deteriorating international market, marked by a Russian food embargo, slowing […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Markets, Reuters

Fonterra cuts dairy jobs as ‘white gold’ rush fizzles

By GFM Network News July 16, 2015

Wellington | Reuters — New Zealand dairy exporter Fonterra is cutting jobs in an effort to shore up its cash flows as a slump in global dairy demand, particularly from No. 1 buyer China, threatens to snuff out the country’s “white gold” rush. Dairy prices have more than halved from record highs scaled in 2013, […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock

Parmalat getting land to expand Winnipeg milk plant

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News July 16, 2015

Dairy giant Parmalat plans to expand its Winnipeg milk operations and has been cleared to buy the acres to do so. While the Italian company’s Toronto-based Canadian arm has so far been quiet about its plans, Winnipeg’s city council on Wednesday voted to approve the sale of about 15 acres to Parmalat just south of […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Architect of the Capitol, VisitTheCapitol.gov)

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Markets, Poultry/Eggs, Reuters

U.S. said considering TPP trade deal without Canada

By GFM Network News July 10, 2015

Washington | Reuters — The United States, frustrated over the lack of progress with Canada over new rules for agriculture trade, is weighing “contingencies” that could include completing a Pacific Rim trade pact that excludes Canada, according to two sources familiar with the issue. One official familiar with the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiation said […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock

Agropur to shut Montreal-area milk plant

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News July 9, 2015

Quebec dairy co-operative Agropur plans to shut a Montreal-area fluid milk processing plant which it says has aged out of service. The company said Tuesday it will close its milk plant in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, which today employs 67 full-time and 27 “temporary” staff, by late May next year. “Considering the age and condition of the building […] Read more

(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Markets, Poultry/Eggs

Pitting supply management against U.S. subsidies seen as ‘unfair’

By GFM Network News July 9, 2015

CNS Canada — How will Canada’s supply management system stack up against America’s domestic supports if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) comes to fruition? It’s a question that hasn’t been answered, say some experts from Canada’s farming institutions. “It would be completely unfair if we have to compete with lower prices, because those lower prices are […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, The Dairy Corner

Test for, treat ketosis early in dairy cattle

It is easy for cows to slip into a negative energy balance and lose condition

By Peter Vitti July 6, 2015

Years ago, I would lean over the feed bunk and smell the breath of a ketosis-suspect dairy cow. It convinced me that it had either bad breath or glue (acetone) breathing ketosis. Since then, I’ve come a long way. Dairy nutritionists like myself and dairy producers now have access to modern BHB (Beta-hydroxybutyrate) milk tests through […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Markets, Poultry/Eggs, Reuters

Dairy farmers worry Trans-Pacific trade deal could hurt

By GFM Network News June 26, 2015

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s powerful dairy industry on Friday expressed concern it could suffer if talks to create a Pacific trade treaty open up heavily protected Canadian markets to more foreign competition. Some of the 12 nations taking part in negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) want Canada to start dismantling a system known […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Markets

High-fat dairy demand leaving Ont. skim milk homeless

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News June 19, 2015

Strong demand for high-butterfat dairy products, soft demand for fluid milk and maxed-out capacity to make skim milk powder have led Ontario’s dairy farmers in recent weeks to dump surplus skim milk in lagoons. A letter to producers last Friday from Dairy Farmers of Ontario board chairman Ralph Dietrich, intended to “put to rest the […] Read more

U.S. grains: Grains off highs with fed in focus, soyoil down more than two per cent

Health Canada proposes new restrictions for dicamba on soybeans

ICE Canada Weekly: More declines on horizon for canola

GFM Network News