Food safety, animal welfare projects get funding
On-farm food safety and animal welfare projects recently received $1.2 million in federal funding from the federal and Manitoba governments.
Manitoba farmers applied for funding to improve biosecurity, traceability, food safety and quality and animal welfare practices on their farms.
In total, 255 livestock producers and 20 crop producers were approved for funding under the program.
Eligible producers must have implemented a national on-farm food safety program for their commodity where one exists.
More than half of the approved projects (141) focus on animal welfare and will help Manitoba farmers implement new requirements under national codes of practice for caring for livestock.
Read Also
First annual Ag in Motion Junior Cattle Show kicks off with a bang
Ag in Motion 2025 had its first annual junior cattle show on July 15. The show hosted more than 20…
Projects include:
- buying and installing low-stress handling equipment for cows and sheep
- adding non-slip flooring and stall enhancements for dairy cows
- improving environmental monitoring inside poultry barns
Manitoba leafcutter and honeybee producers received funding for 50 projects, which included:
- participation in a honeycomb exchange program
- new microscopes to quickly identify on-farm diseases
- bee cell sampling, separating or sorting equipment
- queen honeybee rearing equipment and training
Grain farmers received funding for projects that would improve biosecurity, including in-field pest monitoring, seed testing for pathogens, grain sample storage and managing access to equipment and fields.
Strategic planning webinar available
The Sustainable Strategic Planning 101: Understanding Sustainability for Agri-Processors webinar series is now available from Alberta Agriculture.
It is for agri-processors looking to improve their bottom line performance.
The series focuses on three major sustainability themes: driving revenue, cutting costs and mitigating risk.
Participants learn about the basics of sustainability and how to develop a strategic plan with a proven system to effectively execute the strategic plan.
The webinars can be found on Alberta Agriculture’s webinar page under Business Planning.
Funding for farmer credit insurance tool
Federal funding of more than $400,000 will support the introduction of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s new accounts receivable insurance tool.
Accounts receivable insurance protects a business from an unforeseeable non-payment of commercial debt.
CFA’s two-year pilot project addresses a gap in the agriculture sector for individual transaction accounts receivable insurance.
The insurance tool is designed to offer financial protection to farmers as they seek out new markets within Canada and abroad.
The intent is to develop private sector-delivered accounts receivable insurance for up to 20 agricultural commodities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
There are longer-term plans to expand credit insurance across Canada to provide more certainty and ensure higher profitability.
Ag in the classroom receives donation
DuPont Pioneer is donating $5,000 to Agriculture in the Classroom-Saskatchewan.
The company’s Full Belly! Full Mind! initiative supports nutrition and breakfast programs in Canada.
The money will be used to deliver the Little Green Thumbs program by funding an indoor garden program that enables students to learn first-hand about the importance of food and farming practices.
It will ultimately try to inspire students to grow and eat healthy food.
