NFACC Information Update: February 2015
NFACC WELCOMES BURNBRAE FARMS AS ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
NFACC is pleased to welcome Burnbrae Farms as an Associate Member. Burnbrae Farms is a family owned and operated company that has been producing eggs for over 70 years. With farms in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta, they are one of Canada’s leading egg producers. Burnbrae Farms sells eggs and egg products to major grocery store chains, food service operations and large bakery / industrial customers throughout Canada.
UPDATE ON MARKET RELEVANT CODES AND COMMUNICATION LEADERSHIP* PROJECT
CODES OF PRACTICE
Chicken, Turkeys and Breeders - at the beginning of January Code Secretary Allison Taylor informed NFACC that she would be moving on to new endeavours. Betsy Sharples, Code secretary for the layer Code, agreed to take over from Allison on the chicken, turkeys and breeders Code. Given the overlap between the poultry meat and layer Codes, this is a very positive outcome.
NFACC thanks Allison for ensuring a smooth transition and the work she did on the beef cattle Code. We are so fortunate for the calibre of people that have worked and continue to work with NFACC.
The poultry meat Code Development Committee met in December and has had numerous sub-committee teleconferences. Their next in-person meeting is scheduled for February. Summaries from those meetings will soon be available at
www.nfacc.ca/poultry-progress-report.
Poultry (layers) – the Code Development Committee met in December and will meet again in March. Numerous sub-
committee teleconferences have been held. A summary from the December meeting will soon be available at
www.nfacc.ca/progress-report-layers.
Veal – the Code Development Committee is being organized. The Scientific Committee is in place. Revisions to this Code will be facilitated by Caroline Ramsay. Caroline was the Code secretary for the equine Code and was also the Coordinator for the Animal Care Assessment Framework. It is great to have Caroline back on the team. An official announcement of the launch of the veal Code update will circulated soon.
Rabbits – the Code Development Committee is being organized, as is the Scientific Committee. Le lapin du Québec/Syndicat des producteurs de lapins du Québec will serve as the lead association for the development of the rabbit Code and will work in partnership with other provincial rabbit groups.
We are very pleased to have Caroline Ramsay contracted as Code secretary. An official announcement of the development of the rabbit Code will be circulated soon.
Bison – the Code Development Committee and Scientific Committee are almost finalized. An official announcement of the launch of the bison Code update will circulated soon.
Jeffrey Spooner has been contracted to serve as bison Code secretary. He is a social scientist working in the field of animal welfare. Academically he is interested in the nature of human values, attitudes and beliefs. As a consultant, he draws upon that knowledge to facilitate acceptable animal care and handling policies. He has also worked as a writer and editor. We are very excited to have Jeff on the team!
INFORMATION TRANSFER
NFACC’s General Manager has had the opportunity to present on the Codes and Code development process to a number of groups including:
- National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Forum in Ottawa, Ontario November 24-25
- Legislative Ag Chairs Summit in Clearwater, Florida January 2-4, 2015
- Alberta Agriculture Food and Rural Development, Edmonton, Alberta January 6, 2015
Upcoming presentations include the following events:
- Farm and Food Care Ontario IMPACT information session, Cambridge, Ontario February 26-27
- Canadian Federation of Humane Societies – National Animal Welfare Conference, Richmond, British Columbia May 2-5
* A project made possible through the AgriMarketing Program under Growing Forward 2, a federal –provincial –territorial initiative.
