Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Regulatory Burdens on Slaughter Facilities.

A story on the front page of the Regional Country News today about puts it over the top with regard to burdensome regs. on slaughter and meat processing plants. The ridiculous standards imposed on this highly important segment of the farm business infrastructure are beyond bizarre.

When these small facilities are gone, they usually do not come back. Without them, small enterprises like mine might as well shut the door because in the recent years our only positive cash flow comes from our direct-to-consumer marketing side, small as it is.

After reading the story, I am working on forming a small group of like-minded people who would be able to carry an "impactful" and articulate message to the people in charge of the inspection bureaucracy.

This group would ideally include beef/pork producers who understand the value and importance of the local butcher shop, some from the "buy local" movement, etc. Small enough to be agile and fast, and big enough to offer full representation.

Do you have any suggestions?


Views: 1467

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by littlelamb on May 7, 2010 at 1:07am
Laurie,

It was really well written, but Gary Schellenberger lives not more then 1/4 of a mile from me and has never even tried to support us buy buying even one dozen of eggs. He doesn't even canvas us during election, being so close, so I guess why would I expect him to support small farmers.
Permalink Reply by Laurie Knechtel on May 7, 2010 at 1:48am
Which is exactly why this message was written. I couldn't get the image of photo opp's between Ritz, Schellenberger and other parties involved, smiling, holding a cheque and claiming that the $4.5M is going to benefit family farms when, as your message clearly demonstrates, they don't get it - not even close.

A couple updates since I sent the email:
1. I was advised to also copy Perth-Wellington MPP John Wilkinson on email which I did same day as original was sent.
2. Was contacted that same evening by Jim Gracie, VP of Quality Meats indicating that he would like to speak further about this. My response:

Hi Jim.

Thank you for your email in response to my message from earlier today.
I would very much like to chat with you about this funding and the direction in which Great Lakes Specialty Meats in going in the not-so-distant future.

I just came across the following tidbit online:

Mitchell Plant Expansion To Use Ontario Hogs
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 8:21 am
It could take up to two years to finalize the upgrades to the Great Lakes Specialty Meats plant in Mitchell.
But when the upgrades are done a company spokesman says the product coming out of that plant will be a lot different than what's coming out of it now.
Jim Gracie says the plant will change from a basic slaughtering operation to one that's capable of producing higher value-added pork products for domestic and international markets.
And Gracie says they'll be doing that with Ontario hogs.

Quality Meats bought the Mitchell plant late last year.
Gracie says they're hoping to start on the upgrades this summer and have them all finished by March of 2012.

Source: http://www.am920.ca/news.php?mode=day&day=04&mth=05&yr=...

Would love to discuss this and what it means for Ontario farmers and the local option (as it pertains to meat) overall.
I have some time Monday morning. Tues/Wed are pretty booked. Please advise what works for you and we'll proceed accordingly.

Thank you and have a lovely evening.


We are going to be chatting via phone on Monday. Will follow up with you after that.
Permalink Reply by littlelamb on May 14, 2010 at 2:53am
Hey Laurie,

How did the chat go with Jim Gracie @ Quality Foods.
Permalink Reply by Joe Dales on May 26, 2010 at 8:01am
More News on the Ontario Pork Processing Front.

Maple Leaf launches sale process for Burlington, Ontario, pork processing business


TORONTO, May 25, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --Maple Leaf Foods (MFI: TSX) today announced that it is launching a formal sale process for its Ontario pork processing business located in Burlington, Ontario, following renewed interest from potential purchasers and improved economic conditions and credit markets. The Company has engaged financial advisors to support the sale process.

"The sale of the Burlington business will complete the last phase of Maple Leaf's protein transformation journey and supports our commitment to refocus our growth in the value-added meat, meals and bakery business," said Michael Vels, Chief Financial Officer. "We are reinvigorating the sale process following renewed interest, including the potential of completing a sale to a producer group."

The 365,000 square foot Burlington facility is one of the largest and most efficient pork processing facilities in Canada. Together with its management and sales teams it is a profitable business with a highly skilled workforce.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading Canadian food processing company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The Company employs approximately 23,500 people at its operations across Canada and in the United States, Europe and Asia. The Company had sales of $5.2 billion in 2009.

SOURCE Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Bison may not have future on Great Plains

The Great Plains has functioned as an ideal habitat for the North American bison for thousands of years. But according to new research from South Dakota State University, the grasslands of South Dakota and North Dakota may no longer be the national mammal's model habitat by the end of the century. Earth's climate has changed throughout deep history, with periods of both warming and cooling. Currently, the North American climate is seeing an increase in temperatures and variability in precipitation. That change is causing some species to shift their range as living conditions become unsuitable. The research team's findings, published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, suggest that the center of suitable climate conditions for the North American bison will shift from the Saskatchewan-Montana/North Dakota border significantly to the northwest, near the Alaska/Canada border, by the year 2100. While Canada and Alaska will become more suitable for bison, much of the contiguous United S

Producers suffer egg woes

Key takeaways • After almost 21 million birds were affected by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza from January to March 2026, detections have decreased, with less than 10,000 birds affected so far in May. The resulting increase in egg supply comes during a time of softened demand. • Retail prices for shell eggs are currently 62 percent less than in 2025, while prices paid to farmers for shell eggs have decreased 93 percent. Prices for breaker eggs, used for the liquid-egg market, have decreased to just 8 cents per dozen. That’s 96 percent less than in 2025 and well less than break-even levels. • Prolonged periods of less than break-even prices could force farms out of the market and contribute to continued consolidation in the egg industry. Egg markets have encountered massive volatility since outbreaks of HPAI began in 2022. Retail shell-egg prices hit a record level in 2025 but are now almost 60 percent less than a year ago as supplies have strengthened and HPAI cases declined. Th

The world’s game on a Canadian ag canvas

Bert Bos, owner of the 165-acre Bos Sod Farms in Abbotsford, grew the nearly two acres of hybrid turf the players will play on

Pulse Market Insight #298

Third Quarter Scorecard Positive for Pulses More acreage and very high yields meant much bigger Canadian pulse crops in 2025. Pea and lentil crops were each nearly 1.0 mln tonnes larger than 2024 and chickpea production was up by almost 200,000 tonnes. And for each crop, the carryover from 2024/25 into 2025/26 was also large, which added to the big supplies. With pulse crops facing extremely heavy supplies, a serious increase in export volumes was needed in 2025/26 to keep markets from being pressured (even) lower. And early in the marketing year, prospects weren’t great. In fact, the most positive developments only started to show up in the third quarter of the 2025/26 marketing year. While that doesn’t leave a lot of time to “fix” the heavy supply situation, the outlook is certainly brighter than it was a few months ago. Prospects were especially dim for peas earlier in 2025/26, with Chinese tariffs essentially shutting off that important outlet for Canadian peas. Indian demand wa

Progress Accelerates in Lagging States as U.S. Corn, Soy Planting Remains Ahead of Average

U.S. corn and soybean planting continued to progress ahead of the average pace this past week as fieldwork accelerated in some states where it had been lagging. Monday’s USDA crop progress report showed the nationwide corn crop at 76% planted as of Sunday, up 19 points from the previous week and 6 points ahead of the five-year average. An identical 76% of the corn crop had been planted at this time last year. American soybean planting was pegged at 67% complete as of Sunday, a weekly advance of 18 points. That is 14 points ahead of average and 4 points ahead of last year. In Michigan - where producers had been bogged down by wet, cold conditions - corn planting surged 30 points from a week earlier to reach 47% complete as of Sunday. However, that remains behind 60% last year and 52% on average. Soybean planting in Michigan jumped 25 points on the week to 37% complete, versus 50% last year and 46% on average. North Dakota producers also made rapid progress after earlier weather-

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service