NFACC Information Update February 2023
In this issue: 
UPDATE ON CODES OF PRACTICE UNDER REVISION/DEVELOPMENT
Dairy Cattle Code
The Code Committee is pleased to announce that they have reached consensus on the updated Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle, which will be published on March 30, 2023. On this date, a news release announcing the Code will be circulated, and the Code of Practice will be made available online (with printed copies circulated soon after). A report summarizing how input from the comment period was considered will be published alongside the Code.
Most of the recent work to finalize the Code was done in a two-day hybrid meeting in December that also allowed the committee time to reflect on the project overall and offer input to NFACC about how to improve the Code development process.
Congratulations to Dairy Farmers of Canada and to all members of the Code Committee for reaching this milestone! Like all Code projects, this was a challenging endeavor but one that benefited from the unique expertise and perspectives that each member of the team (committee members, observers, the industry liaison) brought to the work every step of the way. Previous progress reports are available here.
Goat Code
The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Goats was released November 18, 2022 and is now accessible in HTML and PDF formats here. A What We Heard and How We Addressed It report summarizes how the Code committee considered feedback received on the draft Code, both from the public comment period (December 18, 2020 – February 22, 2021) and a 2019 top-of-mind survey.
Since the Code’s release Code committee members are busy championing the Code at many industry and scientific events, including:
- International Conference on Goats, September 2022
- Goat Value Chain Roundtable, December 2022
- Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week, “Goat Day”, January 2023
- Canadian Meat Goat Association AGM & Breeder Education Day, February 2023
- Ontario Goat AGM, March 2023
- International Sheep Veterinary Congress, March 2023
Many thanks to Amy Vingerhoeds, Catherine Michaud, Jocelyn Jansen, and Peter Kerkvliet for your ongoing efforts to raise awareness and build support for the new Goat Code! Code champions from within a sector are a critical component of Code uptake and success.
Farmed Salmonids
The Code of Practice for the Care of Handling of Farmed Salmonids was released November 9, 2021. It is accessible in HTML and PDF formats here. A What We Heard and How We Addressed It report summarized how the Code committee considered feedback received on the draft Code, both from the public comment period (November 2, 2020 – January 7, 2021) and a 2019 top-of-mind survey.
Since the Code’s release several extension activities have been undertaken to raise awareness of Code content. For example, Farmed Salmonid Scientific Committee Co-Chair, Rich Moccia and Code committee member Arlen Taylor, Owner of Cedar Crest Trout Farms & Springhills Fish, will be presenting, Top 10 things to know from Canada’s New Farmed Salmonid Welfare Code at the Ontario Aquaculture Association Conference in March 2023.
Another exciting development is the launch of the first ever National Performance Commitments for salmon farming in Canada. All major salmon producers in Canada, as members of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA), support the commitments and their actions and targets. One of the key commitments is to embrace the Farmed Salmonids Code of Practice. The first annual report will be released in late 2023. This is an important commitment for measuring progress on Code implementation.
For information on the steps of the Code development process and progress of the Codes being updated follow this link.
Funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriAssurance Program, a federal, provincial, territorial initiative.
Interpretation Published for the Veal Cattle Code of Practice
An interpretation is a clarification of the meaning of a section of a Code of Practice that is provided by the relevant Code Technical Panel in response to a formal request for interpretation.
The Canadian Veal Association requested an interpretation with respect to a housing Requirement in the 2017 veal cattle Code. The interpretation was finalized by the panel in November 2022, and is available on the veal cattle Code’s webpage.
While every effort is made to ensure that Codes are written clearly such that further explanations are unnecessary, occasionally questions do arise regarding the meaning of specific Code sections that may require clarifications or interpretation. NFACC’s process for Code interpretations is available here.
