Los Angeles | Reuters –– Most large U.S. fast-food chains still serve meat from farm animals that have been routinely fed antibiotics, consumer groups said in a new report, which concluded that many companies have not yet laid out plans to curb the practice. Subway, Starbucks, KFC and Domino’s Pizza were among the industry leaders […] Read more
Study alleges U.S. fast food still mostly raised on antibiotics
Yukon to help cover livestock vets’ travel costs
The Yukon government has launched a pilot program to help cover veterinarians’ travel and service expenses for farm calls. The territory government on Tuesday announced it will accept up to 30 farmers for the pilot of the Veterinary Services Program, running from now to the end of March 2016. The program will reimburse participating veterinarians […] Read more
Colony leading the charge in bio-based feed additives
Walsh Hutterite colony has almost eliminated antibiotics by adopting enzymes and other bio-based feed supplements
Reading Time: 4 minutes Farmers around the world are feeling the earth shift beneath their feet as a new landscape of expectations takes hold for agriculture. Sustainability issues from environmental stewardship to animal welfare are becoming critical to market acceptance and social licence. This includes use of antibiotics, as Tyson, Walmart, and a host of others implement restricted-use policies. […] Read more
Avian flu risk higher with fall migrations
Poultry farmers in Ontario are being warned to keep biosecurity top of mind as wild birds get ready to fly south this fall. “With the fall weather quickly approaching, resulting in colder temperatures and wild bird migrations, the threat of re-emergence of (highly pathogenic avian influenza) is real,” the Feather Board Command Centre, the emergency […] Read more
McDonald’s en route to ‘cage-free’ eggs in Canada, U.S.
Reuters/Staff –– McDonald’s Corp. said all eggs it uses in its 16,000 restaurants in Canada and the U.S. will, within the next 10 years, come from chickens not confined to cages. The decision to source “cage-free” eggs follows the company’s announcement in March that it would stop using chicken raised with certain kinds of antibiotics […] Read more
Perdue Farms to buy Chipotle pork supplier Niman Ranch
Chicago | Reuters — Poultry company Perdue Farms will buy natural meat maker Niman Ranch, which is Chipotle Mexican Grill’s biggest pork supplier and a brand name on U.S. restaurant menus, the two companies said on Tuesday. Privately held Perdue expects to “soon” close a deal to buy Natural Food Holdings, which owns the Niman […] Read more
CFIA clears more states for cross-border poultry traffic
Travellers entering Canada from the U.S. may now bring in uncooked poultry products, live poultry and eggs from seven of the 15 states that have had outbreaks of avian flu since December. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Tuesday confirmed it now considers the states of Washington, Idaho, California and Oregon free of highly […] Read more
Alberta project turns manure into liquid gold
Researcher says liquid composting of manure is a viable on-farm process whose time has come
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nick Savidov doesn’t mince words when he talks about relying solely on synthetic fertilizer to feed the planet. “The fact is that if we don’t learn how to recycle nutrients and water, we are doomed,” said the senior research scientist at the Bio-industrial Opportunities Branch of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “We will start dying off […] Read more
Canada lifts bans on three states’ poultry, eggs
Travellers entering Canada from the U.S. can now bring in uncooked poultry products and eggs from Indiana, Montana and/or Arkansas. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) during August declared each of those three states free of highly pathogenic (“high-path”) avian flu, following discoveries of infected poultry in those states this spring. Poultry from Indiana had […] Read more
Japan lifts block on B.C. poultry
Tokyo | Reuters –– Japan’s farm ministry on Friday partially lifted a ban on imports of live poultry and poultry meat from Canada and the U.S. following an outbreak of bird flu. Imports from British Columbia and from eight U.S. states — Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Kansas, Arkansas, Montana and Indiana — will resume after […] Read more