The Humane Society International/Canada has urged the Canadian pork industry to “quit stalling” and keep to its original timeline of phasing out sow gestation crates and moving to open housing systems by 2024. An update to the national code of practice for pigs is now underway and one proposal is to delay the transition to […] Read more
Barb Glen
Stories by Barb Glen
Producers launch branded B.C. beef
British Columbia cattle producers have long desired access to a federally inspected processing plant within the province and a dedicated beef brand. Now they have both. B.C. Beef Producers (BCBP), a recently established corporation, has a three-year lease on the former KML meat processing facility in Westwold, B.C., about one hour east of Kamloops. It […] Read more
CFIA asks public for input on labels for simulated meat
The agency considers updates to guidelines on plant-based food products that are made to resemble meat and poultry
If it looks like meat and tastes like meat, is it meat? And how should it be labelled? The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is seeking public input on the question, though its goal is a bit more nuanced than that. It has launched an online survey, open until Dec. 3, to gauge consumer familiarity with […] Read moreFarmland trust gains support
A Rural Municipalities of Alberta resolution passed this fall may help push development of the Alberta Farmland Trust. The trust is an effort to establish a way for productive farmland to be preserved in perpetuity, in much the same way as ecologically sensitive land is preserved through conservation easements and ecological gifts. The RMA on […] Read more
Beekeepers see solid demand for honey
The pandemic complicates plans to import bees from overseas, while a new strain of foulbrood keeps producers on edge
The basics of supply and demand are at work in the Canadian honey business. Demand is up, along with the price, and supply is low. “Nationally, there’s very little honey available that I’m aware of and the price is very solid,” said Canadian Honey Council executive director Rod Scarlett. “There’s a really strong demand and […] Read more
Rare human swine flu case deemed low threat in Alberta
Influenza A (H1N2)v is linked to contact with pigs, and provincial officials continue their investigation into potential sources of the virus
A case of swine influenza contracted by a person in central Alberta is believed to be an isolated incident with low threat to either other people or to pigs. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said Nov. 4 that it was the first reported case in Canada of a person getting this […] Read more
CFIA surveys public about fake meat
If it looks like meat and tastes like meat, is it meat? And how should it be labelled? The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is seeking public input on the question, though its goal is a bit more nuanced than that. It has launched an online survey, open until Dec. 3, to gauge consumer familiarity with […] Read more
Agriculture drives success in Lethbridge County
Agriculture is the lifeblood of Lethbridge County. In fact, the southern Alberta municipality has proven to be the beating heart of agriculture in the province, annually generating $2.2 billion in gross farm receipts. That’s more than twice that of the next most agriculturally prosperous district, which is the neighbouring Municipal District of Taber. Vulcan County, […] Read more
Poppy production plan awaits gov’t approval
A Lethbridge company needs a regulatory exemption from Ottawa to grow the crop and produce medicinal ingredients
An Alberta company that wants to grow poppies on a commercial level and process them into ingredients for medications is awaiting federal government approval for its plans. API Labs, based in Lethbridge, submitted an application to Health Canada in September seeking a regulatory exemption that would allow it to cultivate a patented variety of poppy […] Read more
Dinosaur bones found on NCC land in Alberta
A 12-year-old boy found the bones while hiking with his father this summer on the property, which is open to the public
When 12-year-old Nathan Hrushkin went on a hike with his father, Dion, this summer, he found a dinosaur. It had been dead for 69 million years but it was a dinosaur, nevertheless. Earlier this month Hrushkin was on the site on Nature Conservancy Canada property in Horseshoe Canyon near Drumheller, Alta., when paleontologists from the […] Read more
