Slaughter rules need updates says OLA president Wednesday, April 9, 2014 by SUSAN MANN The president of the Ontario Landowners Association says government needs to consider adjusting slaughter rules so people can take responsibility for their own food. “A lot of people don’t want to buy it from a processing plant because they have no idea what the animal looked like before it was killed,” says Tom Black. “They want to buy it and see it alive and that’s what drives people out to the country to do this, especially immigrants. They want to do the pre-kill inspection.” Black made the comments following the recent fine levied against a Stouffville-area farmer for slaughtering animals without the before and after inspection required by law. On March 14 in an Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket, Akram Wasim pleaded guilty to four charges and was fined $12,225 plus the 25 per cent victim fine surcharge. The charges were: one count of slaughtering food animals (goats and sheep) without a license; one count of failing to present live food animals to an inspector for inspection and approval for slaughter; one count of failing to present the carcass of food animals intended for human consumption to an inspector after slaughter and one additional count of slaughtering animals without a license on April 20, 2013 while the first offenses were still before the courts. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources officers visited Wasim’s farm on Oct. 26, 2012 and found him slaughtering animals in front of customers. After investigating, officers found Wasim didn’t have a license to operate a slaughter facility and there wasn’t any before and after slaughter inspection, according to an April 8 agriculture ministry press release. Wasim couldn’t be reached for comment. Black says while his organization doesn’t advocate breaking the law, his personal opinion is “what better inspector is there than the person who is going to eat it. He’s going to inspect that animal before and after (slaughter) a way better than any hired inspector because he’s going to be eating it and he has more time to do it.” Black questions how much time government inspectors spend actually looking at livestock before they’re slaughtered. He says he took a truckload of his 300 chickens to a provincially licensed plant to get them killed and the inspector came to the back of the truck looked in and cleared them for slaughter. “Is that inspecting each individual chicken? There’s no way they do that.” According to the ministry’s news release, in Ontario, the Food Safety and Quality Act and its meat regulations make it mandatory for slaughter facilities to be licensed and have an inspector present before and after slaughter to minimize food safety risks to consumers. Rodger Dunlop, manager of the regulatory compliance unit for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, says farmers can only slaughter their own animals on their farms for their own consumption. Any animals being sold for consumption must be slaughtered in a federally or provincially licensed facility “and in that case they would be subject to the inspection.” Before slaughter, an inspector must look at all animals “and just verify and approve them for slaughter,” Dunlop says. “That essentially rules out any potential diseases or conditions that might be harmful to other animals or to people for human consumption.” Inspectors “do a thorough post-mortem inspection to make sure the animal is free of any pathological conditions or disease that might render it unfit for human consumption,” he says. Dunlop says the fine Wasim received wasn’t the maximum amount that’s listed in the Ontario Food Safety and Quality Act. That maximum amount is $25,000 per count. “It’s not approaching the maximum, but it is a significant penalty,” he says. BF PMRA proposes hefty hike in pesticide cost recovery fees Bus tour features value-added farm business
Tips for first year university students Friday, August 29, 2025 The final weekend of summer is here, and students across Ontario will be returning to class next week. That includes at the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus, where staff, faculty, and volunteers are preparing to welcome a new crop of first year students. “There’s definitely a... Read this article online
Sterling buckle marks 170 years at Spencerville Fair Friday, August 29, 2025 For its 170th anniversary, the Spencerville Fair is presenting a distinctive piece of Canadian silverwork that reflects nearly two centuries of agricultural tradition. The 170th Anniversary Spencerville Fair Sterling Silver Buckle was designed and handcrafted by Alex Dordevic of TRIBE, a... Read this article online
Corn and Soybean Crops Fall Short in 2025 Predicts Great Ontario Yield Tour Thursday, August 28, 2025 Ontario’s 2025 corn and soybean harvest is shaping up to be one of the most challenging in recent memory, as persistent drought and heat have pushed yields below the Agricorp 10-year average say experts and master scouts Moe Agostino and Henry Prinzen of the 2025 Great Ontario Yield Tour.... Read this article online
Global grain trade gets a shake-up: What it means for Canadian farmers Thursday, August 28, 2025 The global grain and oilseed trading industry is undergoing a major transformation—and Canadian farmers should take note. A recently published study in the September 2025 issue of discussed how the traditional dominance of a few multinational giants is giving way to a more competitive,... Read this article online
Ontario Farmers Share Yield Strategies Amid Drought Wednesday, August 27, 2025 The Great Ontario Yield Tour held an event at Petersen Custom Farming in Osgood, Ontario, on Thursday, August 21, 2025. The farmer panel during lunch was one of the highlights of the event. Farmers and industry experts gathered to discuss yield strategies and the realities of this season’s... Read this article online