Veal Cattle 5-Year Code Review

The veal cattle Code was released in 2017. A 5-year review was completed by a Code Technical Panel in 2022.  

The Code Technical Panel’s recommendation for this Code of Practice is that it be reaffirmed.

Proposed timeline for a Code update: 2027

Major challenge identified that really needs to be addressed:

• Access to an area outside of the hutch: does this imply year-round? There are conflicting requirements around protecting calves from the cold. The Code Technical Panel resolved this issue through a formal interpretation of the Code (the interpretation is available here).

Broader challenges the Code Technical Panel discussed:

• Different levels of enforcement of Codes across Canada
• While efforts have been made to clarify the scope of each of the three Canadian cattle Codes (veal, dairy, and beef cattle) it can still be challenging in practice to determine which Code applies since many farmers produce for more than one market
• While the veal cattle Code is a key welfare reference for farmers, it can be hard to communicate about the Code to all relevant farmers in part because the industry is not supply managed.