Serving the producers of the Northwest
FARMER
North Battleford, Saskatchewan
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Animal protection advocates slam new transportation laws Staff
Humane Society International/Canada is disappointed with amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations (Humane Transportation). The organization says the new animal transportation regulations fall far short of addressing the most serious risks to animal welfare, and will not fulfill their stated goal of ensuring that animals are treated humanely while transported between farms, slaughterhouses, auction markets and elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the regulations still allow hundreds of millions of animals to be transported for up to 72 hours without food, water or rest, depending on the species,” says the society in a news release. “Moreover, there are no meaningful requirements to protect animals from inclement weather, and only vague instructions for proper animal handling techniques and appropriate space allowances,” states the release. Meanwhile, the Ca-
nadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a release stating, “These new, stronger regulations include both prescriptive and outcome-based requirements that emphasize and improve the health and wellbeing of the animals during the entire transportation process. The amendments will also increase consumer confidence, strengthen Canada’s international trade status and facilitate market access.” The release goes on to state, “The overall objective is that animals arrive at their destination safely, and are suitably fed, hydrated and rested. These amendments go beyond transport journey times to cover the full time an animal is prepared for transit to the time they are installed in their new location.” Riana Topan, campaign manager for farm animal welfare with HSI/Canada, suggested, “CFIA continues to cater to the interests of the industries it is supposed to regulate, rather than the views of the public it represents. These new laws will do little to stop millions of animals from
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arriving dead, dying or injured at slaughterhouses each year because transport conditions will continue to be very poor.” Animal advocates have long called on CFIA to bring animal transport laws in line with those of Canada’s trading partners, such as the European Union and the World Organisation for Animal Health, says Topan. “Instead of ensuring that Canada’s regulations are informed by scientific research, the updated laws appear to have been influenced by livestock industry lobbyists who strongly opposed any changes to the regulations. In fact, investigations into the CFIA’s internal review process revealed that industry representatives fought hard to ensure that maximum allowable transportation times were not significantly reduced, even though CFIA staff recognized shorter times to be better for animals,” states HSI/ Canada CIFA says the new regulations will come into effect in February 2020.
The West Convoys to Ottawa
The United We Roll! convoy to Ottawa took a message to Ottawa about the need for pipelines, opposition to the carbon tax and agricultural issues in February. An Estevan farmer and auctioneer spoke at length of the impact of the carbon tax on agriculture and society as a whole. (See www.newsoptimist. ca to read Jason LeBlanc’s speech.) Dale Mainil of Weyburn, who, like many in Saskatchewan, works in both the oil industry and agriculture, said he was glad to see agriculture represented in the convoy. See stories by Brian Zinchuk of Pipeline News on pages 4 and 6. Photo courtesy of Ken Mehler
The Canola Flower Midge: a newly discovered species Submitted by AAFC
In the agricultural lands of Canada, most farmers would think they’ve seen all the pests that they could see. But not so: a new species of midge has recently been identified. Dr. Boyd Mori, who began his career with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon in
2016, has been studying swede midge, a common pest that damages Brassicaceae crops like canola, cabbage and broccoli. At one point, he thought the traps were broken, as they weren’t picking up as many swede midges as expected. But they were picking up something else... “At this point, we’re not sure if it is a native species
or whether it has migrated from other areas, like the swede midge did. We’re looking into the life cycle, agronomic impacts, and the existence of natural enemies (beneficial insects),” says Mori, research scientist with Insect Ecology and Population Genetics, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Not recognizing the
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insects they were seeing in their traps, they sent them to their colleagues in Ontario for verification. Experts agreed this insect has never before been described in literature and has therefore been identified as a new species. One theory as to why it was only discovered now is that it might be a native
species whose fortunes (and population) have increased with the rise of canola acreage in the past 50 years. A lot more research needs to be done to learn about their biology, potential economic impact on crops and if necessary, how to control them. When a new species is identified, it needs a name. Dr. Mori worked with Dr.
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Brad Sinclair, a Diptera (fly) expert from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, to name it. Factors that go into the naming of the fly include where it was found, the crop it affects, and its physical characteristics. Thus, it was decided that the new midge would be called Contarinia brassicola, or the canola flower midge.
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