Agriculture Roundup for Thursday February 2, 2023

Feb 03, 2023

A Quebec company has purchased an Innisfail, Alta. processing plant and major lamb feedlot.

Préval AG is owned by Alexandre Donald, and Fabien Fontaine. Their company has more than $720 million in annual sales.

The deal is good news for lamb producers, as the Innisfail processing plant formerly known as SunGold Speciality Meats is the only federally inspected plant in Western Canada.

Préval AG, headquartered in Saint-Hyacinthe, has more than 1,400 employees, many working for companies it has acquired. Its products include veal, lamb, and beef sold under brands such as Famille Fontaine and Catelli Brothers, as well as market vegetables and grain.

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Video: WARNING! Rough Start To Breeding Season!!

WARNING! Sheep Breeding Season Begins With A Bang! Breeding season is officially underway at Ewetopia Farms, but it didn’t exactly start the way we planned!

This vlog begins with us sorting through our rams to find the perfect match for a customer’s breeding program. What should have been routine quickly turned dangerous when one of our more nervous rams panicked. In seconds, Arnie’s knee was injured, and then I was slammed hard onto the concrete floor — both of us taken down by one ram!

Thankfully, it was just bruises, but it’s a reminder of how unpredictable and powerful mature rams can be. Once we recovered, it was time to get back to the real work — the start of breeding season.

We sorted the ewes into four breeding groups (two Suffolk and two Dorset), checking parentage as they ran through the chute, deworming those that needed it, and setting aside thinner ewes for session two of breeding season in a month’s time.This staggered approach keeps lambing organized and prevents overcrowding in the barns.

From rogue rams to the excitement of new breeding groups, this episode is full of action. Stay tuned for the next vlog, where we’ll share how we chose the rams for each group!