Agriculture Minister to Visit XL Foods Meat Plant [Oct. 2]

Oct 03, 2012

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz Visits Famed XL Foods Slaughterhouse

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz will be paying a visit to the XL Foods Inc. plant, which at the centre of the largest beef recall in Canadian history. The slaughterhouse in Brooks, Alberta was found to be the source of the E. coli tainted beef, forcing a recall of over 1.5 million pounds of beef to-date.

The beef contamination wasn’t found until 12 days later and since then there has been a series of beef recalls and a number of people have fallen ill linked to Xl Foods beef. As of Tuesday, Alberta officials have confirmed a total of 10 cases of E. coli, of which only five have been linked to the Xl Foods beef plant. While in Saskatchewan, there are a total of 13 cases, but authorities are still investigating to see whether any of them are linked to the XL foods beef recall.

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.