Livestock

The United States is testing four bird flu vaccines for poultry, after more than 58 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have died in the nation’s worst outbreak ever. The trials, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, are the first step in a lengthy process toward the possible first use of vaccines to […]

Quebec pork producer Olymel says it will close a major slaughterhouse south of Quebec City and lay off 994 workers. The company says the Vallée-Jonction plant in the Beauce region will be the latest factory to shutter, after previously announcing the closure of several other facilities in recent months. Olymel CEO Yanick Gervais told reporters […]

An explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle that critically injured one person and killed an estimated 18,000 head of cattle is the deadliest barn fire recorded since the Animal Welfare Institute began tracking the fires. Castro County Sheriff Salvador Rivera has says the Monday fire and explosion at Southfork Dairy Farm near […]

Meatpackers and other companies in the food-supply chain need to do a better job taking steps to ensure illegal child labor isn’t being used in their operations, or by their suppliers, subcontractors or other vendors. That’s according to US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. In a letter to 18 of the country’s largest meat and poultry […]

Britain’s envoy to Canada says an uproar on the Prairies over an expanded trade deal could be overcome by ranchers rejigging their beef operations to meet U.K. standards. British High Commissioner to Canada Susannah Goshko says Brits don’t want their government to budge on barring imports of beef raised with certain hormones. But groups like […]

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) held their Livestock Summit at the Saskatoon Inn and Conference Centre.   The Summit brought together industry leaders, producers, bankers, policymakers, and other industry professionals for a full day to discuss a wide variety of issues, as well as identifying opportunities to positively impact the long-term success of the […]

Some southern Saskatchewan municipalities have re-introduced a 20-dollar bounty for coyotes. Rural Municipality of Weyburn Reeve Norm McFadden says families are concerned after seeing packs of up to 15 coyotes in the area. The Saskatchewan government introduced a 20-dollar coyote bounty in 2009, but it wasn’t renewed in 2010 — the same year the province […]

Canfax reports 12,764 head of cattle were sold in Saskatchewan last week—2500 more than the previous week. Steer prices were mixed with the heavier weight classes show some improvement . . while the midweight categories were lower. 500–600-pound steers fell $6 to average $328.50 per hundredweight . . while 8-9’s were $2.67 higher for a […]

The National Farm Animal Care Council has released its revised Code of Practice for the Care and Handling on Dairy Cattle. It takes effect on April 1st of next year. The code includes a timeline to eliminate tie stalls for cows. Effective April of 2027, cows cannot be tethered continuously. New barns will be required to allow “daily, […]

Canada’s beef cattle sector is already calling the negotiations that allow the United Kingdom to join Canada and its 10 partner nations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, unjust. The trade pact’s accession working group claims that the U.K. “has provided commercially meaningful market access offers of the highest standard on goods, services, investment, financial services, government procurement, state-owned […]