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Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Andy Mitchell revealed
plans for the Ruminant Slaughter Facility Assessment Assistance
program that will provide funding for producer organizations
to cover the preparatory steps for assessing whether a new,
expanded, or renovated slaughter facility that meets federal
standards is feasible. This aid will cover the costs of
studies, business plans, marketing, and other early start-up
expenses, and will enable groups to ultimately realize a
successful project resulting in a slaughter facility that
meets Canadian federal inspection requirements.
Producer
groups may receive funds that cover up to half of the costs
of these planning expenses with a maximum of C$100,000.
This is a continuation, the Minister said, of Canada's effort
to build its own slaughter facility and reduce the industry's
dependence on U.S. live animal markets.
With
Canada's slaughter capacity increase of more than 20 percent
since the U.S. border closure, and more slaughter capacity
anticipated to come on line by the end of 2006, the country
hopes to become more self -sufficient and less dependent
on the United States.
Meanwhile,
USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service reports that Canadian
cattle numbers were at an all-time high on July 1, 2005
with the national cattle herd at 17.3 million head, an increase
of 3.2 percent from a year earlier and almost 10 percent
above the level on July 1, 2003.
Most
of the increase took place in the western portion of the
country with a 1.4 million head increase in Alberta, Saskatchewan,
and Manitoba during the two years.
With
the July 18, 2005, reopening of the U.S. border to animals
under 30 months of age, those numbers will decrease, though
many of the cattle involved are cull cows that would have
been slaughtered or exported for slaughter before the trade
ban. Many of those animals were kept and bred, adding to
the increased herd numbers.
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