A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For technical information, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAFRA website: www.ontario.ca/omafra
Food Safety Consultation With Small Businesses
Are you a small business in the food industry? If so, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) wants to hear from you!
Once in force, the Safe Food for Canadians Act will strengthen food safety rules. This new law will focus on prevention and your ability to quickly respond to food safety issues when they arise.
The CFIA is holding a targeted consultation to better understand your food safety challenges and to seek feedback on options that could reduce burden on your business.
Key food safety elements
To improve the approach to food safety in Canada, we’re considering enhancements based on three-key features of international food safety systems:
1. The identification of food businesses – to know who is involved in preparing and importing food and what they are producing or bringing into the country, and communicate directly with these businesses to share important information.
2. The ability to trace a food product’s path one step forward and one step back – to reduce the time it takes to remove unsafe products from the market.
3. Preventive food safety controls – to ensure all businesses preparing or importing food understand and control the potential hazards associated with their products and processes.
Get involved
For the purpose of this consultation, small businesses are defined as those that generate $100,000 or less in annual food gross sales.
If you’re a small business in the food industry, visit inspection.gc.ca/safefood
Don’t miss out. Have your say before June 30, 2015!
Stay informed
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Sign up to our Listserv at http://inspection.gc.ca/english/util/listserv/listdsube.shtml
Scouting – Learn What To Look For!
Scouting is always the best method to determine if fields are actually at risk.
Springtime assessments help determines what impact winter and early spring conditions have had on the early season pests. Harsh winters can have a large impact on bean leaf beetles for example, while grubs are well protected from extreme temperature fluctuations by hibernating below the frost line. Spring scouting is also the best time to monitor for those pests that overwinter in the U.S. and migrate here in early spring (eg. black cutworm). Scouting prior to planting informs growers of field conditions that have increased their risk to pests. Some additional cultural control measures could be implemented or decisions made as to where to best target the insecticide seed treatments.
To learn more about how to use baits to find wireworm populations and how to dig and assess for grubs and some of the key root feeding pests refer to OMAFRA’s webpage “Scouting for Soil Insect Pests in Field Crops”
Farm Windbreak Twilight Tour
submitted by Mark Funk, Grand River Conservation Authority
The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) is hosting a farm windbreak Twilight Tour at the farm Bert and Trevor Perriman’s, Greenfield Acres Farm, 2050 Greenfield Road, R. R. #1, Ayr, ON N0B 1E0 on June 16 (7 – 9 pm).
The purpose of this informative tour is to address questions about the costs and benefits of treed windbreaks on farms. Is it true that windbreaks increase crop yields? Will tree roots clog field drainage tiles? Do windbreaks require a lot of up-keep? To RSVP, contact Mark Funk with the GRCA, at mfunk@grandriver.ca or by phone at 519-621-2763 ext. 2259.
You can also register online at http://grandriver.eventbrite.ca
Coming Events:
July 16 – 19 Listowel Fair. For more information, please contact: 519-291-2776 or website at: www.listowelfair.com
Aug. 7 – 9 Drayton Fair. For more information, please contact: 519-638-5093 or website at: www.draytonfair.com
