Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Comment period for Ontario veal marketing board proposal ends in October

Monday, September 8, 2014

by JIM ALGIE

A 45-day, public comment period for regulations creating a long-awaited, Ontario marketing board for veal wraps up Oct. 6.

Ontario Farm Product Marketing Commission officials published a summary of the proposed regulation, Aug. 22, on the province’s regulatory registry.

Its purpose is to establish a governance framework and to shift payment of current, per head fees for calves from Beef Farmers of Ontario to the proposed veal board. The move to create a separate marketing board for veal calves apart from existing arrangements for beef cattle follows a vote by producers in March of 2013. Veal and dairy producers voted 88.3 per cent in favour of the proposal, judging by a statement at the time by then-Ontario Veal Association President Judy Dirksen.

New rules will grant specific powers to the new board, including: the power to make regulations, to license veal producers, set license fees and require information from producers. The board would “have authority to collect data and to use its funds for research, education, promotion . . . for the overall improvement of the veal industry in Ontario,” the registry entry says.

The province’s marketing commission “is encouraging the industry to provide advice on any of the topics listed in the posting,” its marketing analyst Marilyn Sewell said, Tuesday, responding to emailed questions.

Public comments will be taken into consideration by the commission in future recommendations to provincial cabinet, Sewell said. Timing of any commission recommendation will depend on the completion of essential, preliminary arrangements.

“When the commission has determined that all the necessary work has been accomplished, it will provide recommendations to the cabinet to establish a marketing board for veal,” Sewell said. “The commission will delegate appropriate marketing authorities to the new board upon its creation,” she said.

Currently, Reg. 54 under the Beef Cattle Marketing Act includes veal calves as cattle and authorizes the collection of fees by Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO). Proposed amendments to Reg. 54 would exempt producers of veal calves from payments to BFO and to the national research and promotion agency for beef cattle, the registry document says.

The Ontario Veal Association has operated since 1990 as a producer-run organization but without marketing board authority. Information on the association website estimates there are 450 veal farmers in the province with annual, farm gate sales worth about $110 million.

Veal is the meat of male dairy calves younger than about seven months of age. Milk-fed calves are raised to weights of between 200 and 250 kilograms. Grain-fed calves are raised to weights between 295 and 318 kg, a veal association fact sheet says. BF

Current Issue

June/July 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Calf Auction Raises Funds for Youth

Monday, June 30, 2025

Wyatt Westman-Frijters from Milverton won a heifer calf named Ingrid through a World Milk Day promotion by Maplevue Farms and a local Perth, Ontario radio station. Instead of keeping the calf, 22-year-old Westman-Frijters chose to give back to the community. The calf was sent to the... Read this article online

Cattle Stress Tool May Boost Fertility

Friday, June 27, 2025

Kansas State University researchers have developed a cool tool that may help reduce cattle stress and improve artificial insemination (AI) results. The idea came from animal science experts Nicholas Wege Dias and Sandy Johnson, who observed that cattle accustomed to their environment... Read this article online

Ontario pasture lands get $5M boost

Friday, June 27, 2025

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $5 million to strengthen shared community grazing pastures. This funding supports the province’s plan to protect Ontario’s agriculture sector and help cattle farmers improve pasture quality, ensuring long-term sustainability and... Read this article online

Health Canada sets rules for drone spraying

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Health Canada has approved the use of drones, also called Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), for pesticide application under the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA). Drones are considered aircraft by Transport Canada, but Health Canada treats them differently due to their unique... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2025 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top