IN NEW YORK STATE, FRACKING BAN FUELS SECESSION TALK . . . LAMB PRODUCERS SEEK VALUE-ADDED NICHE  . . . PORK PRODUCERS NOT YET REGISTERED WITH PIGTRACE CANADA ENCOURAGED TO DO SO . . . COOL NO IMPACT ON CANADIAN CATTLE TRADE . . . OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

IN NEW YORK STATE, FRACKING BAN FUELS SECESSION TALK
Source: LA Times
From this village of dairy farms and friendly diners, Carolyn Price can see across the border into Pennsylvania, and it is a bittersweet view. The rolling hills a few miles away are as green as the ones here, and the Susquehanna River is icy and beautiful on both sides of the state line as it meanders toward the Atlantic. Price sees something else, though: towns brimming with money extracted from the gas-rich Marcellus Shale, where the high-pressure drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has spurred an economic boom. (read more)

LAMB PRODUCERS SEEK VALUE-ADDED NICHE
Source: FCC Canadian lamb producers are working to find a niche in the global market place. Australia and New Zealand are dominant in the export of lamb carcasses and products with minimal processing. Canada wants a different slice of the market by selling value-added products, such as lamb burgers, sausages, and kabobs. (read more)

PORK PRODUCERS NOT YET REGISTERED WITH PIGTRACE CANADA ENCOURAGED TO DO SO
Source: Farmscape.ca
The Saskatchewan Pork Development Board is encouraging any pork producer in the province who is not yet set up to report hog movements to contact Sask Pork or PigTrace Canada to be issued a premise identification number. Effective July 1, 2014 under changes to Canada's Health of Animals Regulation to accommodate swine traceability, both the shipper and receiver of pigs must report the movement of those animals to the PigTrace Canada database within seven days. (read more)

COOL NO IMPACT ON CANADIAN CATTLE TRADE
Source: TheBeefSite.com
The President of the U.S. National Farmers Union recently presented the findings of a study into the effects of Country-of-Origin Labelling (COOL) on cattle trading with Canada at a U.S. House Committee on Agriculture hearing. The econometric study showed COOL did not have a negative impact on Canadian cattle exports to the U.S. Roger Johnson also urged the committee to wait for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to rule on COOL, as Canada and Mexico cannot retaliate if no damages are found. (read more)