By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Thursday February 25, 2021

Feb 25, 2021 | 9:39 AM

MELFORT, Sask. — A Quebec dairy farmers group called on milk producers to stop feeding palm oil or its derivatives to livestock as controversy churns over how these supplements affect the consistency of butter.

The Quebec Dairy Producers said it will follow the recommendations of Dairy Farmers of Canada’s new working committee examining the use of palm oil supplements in cow feed. But the group also insisted the practice does not raise health or safety concerns.

The inquiry came in response to consumers’ concerns butter has gotten harder, but some experts question whether spreadability is a widespread issue.

Calgary food writer Julie Van Rosendaal said butter had become firmer as farmers added palm fat supplements to livestock feed to keep up with pandemic-fuelled demand for baking ingredients.

University of Guelph food science professor Alejandro Marangoni said while components of palm oil found in milk fat can affect the melting point of butter, there is no data to support the claims of hardening.

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University of Saskatchewan professor emeritus of animal and poultry science David Christensen said Canadian farmers have used palmitic acid products to increase milk fat production for about two decades.

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The grain sector is hoping to raise awareness and find solutions for outdated marine port rules.

The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) executive director Wade Sobkowich said the port oversight system lacks proper checks and balances compared to other transportation sectors like rail or air.

“With marine ports, we have no recourse to an adequate appeal mechanism, no outside dispute resolution, no independent complaint process, and no effective input to director nominations,” he said. “The federal government needs to address these shortcomings in the Port Modernization Review.”

Sobkowich said terminal operators like the grain elevators have experienced some decisions he felt were unjustified and lack a deeper level of transparency necessary to hold decision makers accountable.

“The government needs to act on the major clean-up of marine port governance that was recommended during the review of the Canadian Transportation Act back in 2016-17,” he said.

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Assiniboine Community College (ACC) in Brandon, Man. will study white mould management in dry beans grown in Manitoba’s climate with the financial support from two organizations.

The Ag Action Manitoba Program will provide $41,850 with matching funding from the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG).

Researcher Dr. Baljeet Singh said white mould is a serious threat to many crops.

“To prevent crop losses to white mould, we will work to provide real-time disease risk warnings for Manitoba growers,” he said.

The project will be carried out in three phases over two years, starting with a disease severity model, then developing and releasing a weather-based warning system producers can use to manage white mould in dry beans.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF