Ontario Pork town hall meeting to address PED and Seneca Valley virus Wednesday, February 17, 2016 by SUSAN MANNOntario Pork is hosting a telephone town hall meeting Monday to update producers and industry representatives on porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and Seneca Valley virus in the province.Mary Jane Quinn, communications and consumer marketing manager, says the speakers will be Amy Cronin, board chair, Mike DeGroot, Ontario Pork technical programs veterinarian, and pig veterinarian Doug MacDougald of South West Ontario Veterinary Services.The meeting will be held from noon to 1 p.m. and will include information on new PED cases, surveillance results and ways to mitigate PED risks along with key points to consider in PED elimination.The update on Seneca Valley virus will include information on marketing and processing pigs confirmed to have the virus.The virus made its first confirmed appearance in Canada in October on three farms in Ontario and Manitoba.Seneca Valley causes vesicular lesions on pigs’ snouts and feet, similar to foot-and-mouth disease. It is not, however, considered production limiting and poses no threat to human health. The virus can cause increased mortality in pigs less than seven days old and possibly diarrhea.Since January 2014 when PED was first confirmed in Ontario, there have been 90 cases. The most recent cases were confirmed Feb. 9 in a finishing barn in Middlesex County and in a finishing barn in Perth County. BF Plan underway to wipe PED from province Farmers must work together to restore public confidence
Farmers Balance Costs and Technology Investments - Tractor Sales Down Wednesday, March 11, 2026 Sales of agricultural tractors and combines in the United States and Canada delivered a mixed performance in February, highlighting how farmers are adapting their purchasing decisions amid shifting commodity markets, input costs, and economic conditions. While tractor sales softened... Read this article online
Sask. NDP wants tougher penalties related to foreign farmland ownership Wednesday, March 11, 2026 The Saskatchewan NDP wants foreign farmland owners who don’t obey the law to face stiffer penalties. Trent Wotherspoon, the party’s deputy shadow minister for agriculture and rural affairs, and the shadow minister of finance, introduced The Saskatchewan Farm Security (Foreign Farmland... Read this article online
Middle East conflict pushes fertilizer costs higher, forcing Ontario growers to rethink corn acres Wednesday, March 11, 2026 Ontario farmers are bracing for a turbulent spring as fertilizer and fuel prices surge in response to the escalating conflict involving Iran, a development that analysts say could reshape planting decisions across North America. The spike in nitrogen costs—the most critical and... Read this article online
Group calls on Health Canada to make labels mandatory for gene-edited pork Tuesday, March 10, 2026 An advocacy group of farmers and environmental organizations wants Health Canada to implement mandatory labelling on pork from gene-edited pigs. Earlier this year, the federal agency approved the sale of gene-edited pigs as food. The pigs are resistant to Porcine Reproductive and... Read this article online
Global Conflict Drives Major Surges in Commodity Markets Monday, March 9, 2026 A major international conflict the war in Iran has disrupted trade flows, pushing energy and grain prices sharply higher. On the weekly Ag Commodity Corner+ Podcast with Commodity Strategist Abhinesh Gopal shared the markets made sharp moves in the week of March 2 to 6, after a rapidly... Read this article online