April 20, 2010

Canada is strengthening the meat packing and processing sector in the country under its CAD50-million (US$49-million) Slaughter Improvement Program.

"Canadian livestock producers have a great product to sell and that's why the government is helping producers and meat processing here in Central Nova to capture new market opportunities beyond our shores," said Peter MacKay, who made the announcement on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

The ministry has recently announced an investment of CAD70,000 (US$69,196) to help Antigonish Abattoir upgrade their plant equipment and data tracking software and improve their traceability system.

The government's Slaughter Improvement Program makes federal loans available to support sound business plans aimed at reducing costs, increasing revenues and improving operations of red meat packing and processing operations in the country. The 2010 Budget provided an additional CAD10 million (US$9.89) for the programme.

The beef industry is the single largest employer in the food industry in Canada, with more than CAD20 billion (US$19.78 billion) in sales.