Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced $4.5 million dollars in funding to help update and develop Codes of Practice for the livestock and aquaculture sector.
“Our Government is proud to support the livestock and aquaculture sectors in their efforts to raise healthy, productive and well-cared animals. This investment will ensure Canadian standards are in place and up-to-date to meet new and emerging consumer and market demands, while building consumer confidence about how farmed animals are raised and transported.”
The $4.5 million dollar investment was made on behalf of the National Farm Animal Care Council to the Canadian Animal Health Coalition
The investment will be divided between four activities including:
- Updating the transportation Codes of Practice for the care and handling of farm animals during transport;
- Updating the dairy Code of Practice that will address new scientific findings, changes in industry practices and address changes in market and consumer demands;
- Updating the goat Code of Practice that will respond to growing buyer and consumer expectations for on-farm animal welfare; and
- Developing a new Code of Practice for farmed finfish.
Canada is world-renowned for our high-quality livestock and aquaculture sectors which generate over $25 billion in farm gate receipts for the Canadian economy.
Ryder Lee, Chair of the National Farm Animal Care Council says we are very well placed in the world that we have such robust Codes of Practice to work from.
He says the majority of the funding is expected to be spent on updating the Transportation Codes of Practice; as there are different requirements when it comes to transporting baby chicks vs cattle.
The money is flowing through the Agri-Assurance program, which is part of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
Source : Discoverestevan