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New pain control medication for livestock hits the market
Cargill’s new facility near Camrose, which opened this summer, is the province’s newest canola-crushing plant. But more could be on the way. PHOTO: CARGILL
Calgary-based company creates affordable medication for horses and cattle By Alexis Kienlen AF STAFF
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Calgary-based company has created a pain control drug that could be a game changer for the North American cattle and horse industries. Oral Meloxicam, a tasteless liquid that can be administered orally or added to feed, is the first pain control medication developed for livestock in North America. “The most common procedure we can use it in is castration, but it can also be used for dehorning — it has been used in many other areas of pain control and found to be very effective,” said Merle Olson, founder and vice-president of research and business development with Alberta Vet Laboratories. The drug, which came on the market this month, can only be obtained through a prescription from a veterinarian. Oral Meloxicam’s arrival on the scene is perfectly timed. As of Jan. 1, the beef code of practice, requires cattle producers to use pain control when castrating bulls older than nine months and
A golden future?
Trade deal could see more canola crushing here Canola producers who farm close to crush plants can get premiums, but it can mean more trucking costs
see PAIN MEDS } page 6 By JENNIFER BLAIR AF staff
C
anadian canola producers are poised to crush the Asian canola oil market if the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is implemented. “The immediate benefit in the next five years is going to be that the tariffs on canola oil going into Japan are going to drop from 15 per cent to zero,” said Ward Toma, general manager of Alberta Canola Producers Commission. “That means more oil is going to be moving into that market, so that’s more value-added exports from us.” He pointed to Japan, which imports
Well prepared:
about 2.4 million tonnes of Canadian canola seed every year and used tariffs on imported canola oil to bolster its own crushing industry. “They had a high tariff on oil and a low tariff on seed,” said Toma. “They were making imported oil more expensive in Japan to protect their canola-crushing industry. They could buy seed in world markets, but they didn’t have to compete against oil that was coming from Canada. “It gave them a bit of a benefit.” By agreeing to the trade deal, Japan would give oil exporters “a more even playing field.” “They’re saying, ‘Our crushers now have to be competitive and they have
to compete against internationally produced canola oils.’”
More crush coming?
Increased oil exports could mean more crushing plants here in Alberta. “The crushing industry in Japan needs some reinvestment in some of its plants,” said Toma. “But it might be cheaper for them in the end to access oil from Canada rather than rebuild crushing facilities or build new facilities in Japan. That allows more crushing here.” Crushing capacity has almost doubled in Western Canada since 2010, but even
see CANOLA } page 6
Preconditioning calves a good thing } PAGE 13