For release: June 16, 2004

ONTARIO GOVERNMENT INVESTS IN LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY
Increased abattoir capacity to yield long-term benefits

TORONTO - The Ontario government is helping Ontario's livestock industry deal with the continuing effects of BSE by investing in increased abattoir capacity for older animals, Minister of Agriculture and Food Steve Peters announced today.

"Our government is committed to a strong agri-food industry in Ontario," said Peters. "This investment will help producers in the short-term by making it possible to handle more of their surplus mature animals, and in the long-term, by building much-needed capacity in Ontario's meat processing industry."

Speaking at a barbecue hosted by the Ontario Cattlemen's Association, the Ontario Sheep Marketing Association, and the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, the minister announced an investment of $7 million from the Mature Animal Abattoir Fund.

The goal of the fund is to expand Ontario's overall slaughter capacity for surplus mature animals to help reduce the backlog of cattle in the province. Under the first phase of this initiative, the province has signed agreements with four abattoirs valued at just under $5 million. More than $2 million remaining in the fund will be made available through the second phase of this initiative.

"The livestock industry has been hit especially hard by our inability to move cull cattle across the border," said Gord Coukell, Chair of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. "We appreciate the Ontario government's help in relieving the situation by investing in more slaughter capacity for now, and for the future."

"By working with our partners in the agri-food industry we have developed a program that will reap benefits for both the industry and our communities," Peters said. "It is through investments such as this that we continue to build strong communities and give Ontarians a quality of life that is second to none."

For more information about phase two of the abattoir fund, please visit the ministry's website at www.omaf.gov.on.ca.

MATURE ANIMAL ABATTOIR FUND

Culling animals from a herd, due to age or decreased productivity, is a normal agricultural practice. Meat from mature animals is generally used for ground meat and processed meat products. Due to the May 2003 closing of international borders to Canadian cattle and other ruminants following the discovery of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in an Alberta cow, Ontario is facing a growing backlog of cull cattle on the province's livestock farms.

Prior to the border closures, Ontario had been shipping approximately 1,000 cull cows per week for processing in U.S. abattoirs, and as many as 1,000 dairy heifers per week to be milked in U.S. dairy herds. The heifers now remain in Ontario's dairy herds, resulting in an increase in Ontario's dairy cull rates. The lack of slaughter capacity for cull animals combined with depressed cattle prices has resulted in an estimated backlog of about 60,000 head in Ontario to date.

Livestock farmers, already financially stressed by the loss of markets and depressed prices, now are carrying the additional costs of housing and feeding these cows. This increases the potential for animal welfare cases and/or the improper disposal of unmarketable cull animals.

Under the Mature Animal Abattoir Fund (MAAF), the Ontario government is making $7 million available to operators of licensed abattoirs to expand the province's capacity to slaughter cull animals. Under the first phase of the program, the government has signed agreements valued at just under $5 million with Gencor Foods Inc. of Kitchener, Ryding Regency Meat Packers Ltd. of Toronto, West Grey Premium Beef Inc. of Durham, and Brian Quinn's Meats Ltd. in Yarker. The remaining funds of the MAAF will be made available through the second phase of this initiative.

In addition, $3 million is being administered by the Ontario Cattlemen's Association to fund initiatives such as developing new markets and products involving cull animal meat, collecting euthanized unmarketable cull cows and enhanced animal identification.

Media Contact:
Mary Devorski
Minister's Office
416-326-3077
416-606-8303 (mobile)

Program Contact:
Jennifer Kidon
519-826-3611

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