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Tag Archives processing — page 2

File photo of a potato field in Alberta’s Lacombe County. (COrthner/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops

Alberta potatoes chip in $2.9 billion for Canadian economy

New report verifies what many in industry suspected

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Alberta’s potato industry is making a big impact — not just on that province but the entire country. A new report — dubbed a “landmark study” by the Potato Growers of Alberta — revealed the sector drove a total contribution of $2.87 billion to Canada’s economy in 2022. It also notes the nationwide creation of […] Read more
Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA’s logo on a tower in Jundiai, northwest of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil, on June 1, 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Paulo Whitaker)
Livestock, Machinery

JBS opens cleaning unit after outside firm fined for hiring kids

Company says has cut ties to cleaning contractor

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Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA, one of the biggest U.S. meatpackers, is creating an internal company to clean some of its processing plants after a private sanitation firm it employed was accused of hiring children for dangerous work. The launch shows the complexities involved in replacing Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), a firm that […] Read more
A challenge identified by Food and Beverage Ontario CEO Chris Conway is that food processing is not considered manufacturing. As a result, food processing tends to fall out of the conversation when governments and society talks about economic recovery.
News

Is processing at a tipping point?

Labour, capacity and access to capital make Ontario processing a challenge

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The inability to achieve production-line capacity was cited for the recent closure of two Canadian-owned food processing facilities serving the country’s densest population centres. The closures, combined with soon-to-take-effect closures of two further-processing pork factories in Quebec, leave primary producers of both vegetables and livestock hoping this isn’t a sign of things to come. Pickle […] Read more
(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)
Livestock

TruHarvest closes doors on beef processing plant

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Plant was one of only three federally inspected options for Ontario producers

TruHarvest Meats, one of three federally inspected beef processing facilities in Ontario, has closed its doors, citing a continued inability to achieve financial goals. “Unfortunately, the ownership paused operation at the end of January for financial reasons,” said TruHarvest vice-president Chuck Oulton, when contacted at the Toronto plant in early March. “It’s tough. The team […] Read more
cooking ideas
News

Supporting food innovation beyond the farm gate

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Canadian Food Innovation Network encourages collaboration across the country

The agriculture sector is familiar with research and innovation from the field to the farm gate. Less well known is the need for innovation beyond the farm gate. That’s where the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) has been filling a gap. CFIN was launched about 18 months ago with the goal of funding innovation and […] Read more
(Richardson International video screengrab via YouTube)
Crops, Markets

Canola crush of 2022 smallest in five years

Meanwhile, soybean crush rose on the year

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MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that 2022 had the smallest domestic canola crush for a calendar year since 2017. As well, 2022 marked the smallest canola oil production in five years and the least amount of canola meal produced in four years. The sharp reduction of canola being crushed was due to the 2021 […] Read more
Ag Minister Nate Horner speaks at the Harmony Beef plant at Balzac, Alta. on Feb. 7, 2023. (Government of Alberta video screengrab via YouTube)

Alberta plans new ag processing tax credit

Incentive to be introduced in 2023 budget

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Alberta has telegraphed plans for a new provincial tax credit in its upcoming budget to spur development in the ag processing sector. The province on Tuesday announced plans for what it calls the Alberta Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit — a 12 per cent, “non-refundable” tax credit for corporations making capital investments in “value-added agri-processing” in […] Read more
(Saputo Cheese USA video screengrab via YouTube)
Livestock, Markets

Saputo to consolidate U.S. cheesemaking, shut three plants

Plans include one new plant, one repurposed

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The Canadian company ranked among the three biggest cheesemakers in the U.S. is preparing to consolidate five of its cheese plants in that country down to two. Montreal-based Saputo announced last Thursday it has construction underway on a new $240 million cut-and-wrap cheese plant in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, to be up and running […] Read more
The next phase of the CanSpot ASF surveillance program involves monitoring for the virus at processing plants.
Livestock, News

CanSpot ASF testing to expand to provincial processing plants

Early based detection aimed at limiting disease transmission

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As the threat of African swine fever (ASF) creeps closer to North America, CanSpot ASF is ramping up its programming. CanSpot ASF is a risk-based early detection program aimed at limiting ASF transmission, and reducing its spread.  “Canadian and provincial governments, along with members of the pork industry, have made significant investments to reduce the […] Read more

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