Livestock
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Putting up a bunch of fence and going around and rotating cattle in a circle without understanding the concepts is rotationally abusing your land.” STEVE KENYON CONSULTANT, GREENER PASTURES LIMITED Steve Kenyon doesn’t believe in doing the ordinary. He’s been ranching for 15 years and currently runs 1,200 head on 3,500 acres of leased land, […] Read more
Raising cattle with minimum work and maximum profit
WAL-MART TIGHTENS BEEF SAFETY
Reading Time: < 1 minute Wal-Mart Stores says it will implement additional beef safety measures to protect against food-borne illnesses. The new program requires Wal-Mart beef suppliers to implement controls to reduce potential contamination levels. Suppliers who do not operate slaughterhouses must comply with the new standard by June 2011, while beef slaughterhouse suppliers would have a two-step approach, with […] Read more
A hobby evolves into a profitable livestock business
Reading Time: 2 minutes “It does take some experience to become efficient, as with any business. But over the years we have found ways to make it a pretty simple business to run.” BILL GIBSON SHEEP FARMER When Bill Gibson first started his lamb operation, it was simply a way to justify buying land in the country and enjoying […] Read more
Piglets weaned early seen short on needed enzyme
Early weaning may cheat piglets out of an enzyme they need to digest and use dietary phosphorus and fight off disease, a new University of Guelph study warns. “Early weaning is critical for farmers when it comes to maximizing production, but it’s also the time when a majority of piglets die or their quality of […] Read more
Alta. ponders “client-driven” BSE testing
Resurrecting a potentially thorny issue, a new Alberta-backed study will analyze whether the benefits would outweigh the costs if BSE testing were allowed anytime a beef-importing customer asks. The project is meant to help to determine whether pre- or post-slaughter testing would allow Canadian products access to export markets that are “currently not available” to […] Read more
Egg Farmers’ traceability system funded
Canada’s egg farmers have got in on the federal program backing national-level commodity groups for development of traceability standards, to the tune of over $800,000. The funding, pledged Wednesday from the federal Canadian Integrated Food Safety Initiative (CIFSI), is meant for the Canadian Egg Industry Traceability System (CEITS). Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) is to […] Read more
Quebec launches new NISA-style program
Quebec’s provincial farm finance agency, La Financiere agricole du Quebec, has launched a new ag income stabilization account program in the mold of the former federal NISA plan. The new Quebec program, dubbed Agri-Quebec, is considered a complementary offering to the province’s Farm Income Stabilization Insurance (ASRA) program and other ag risk management programming. Approved […] Read more
Klassen: Upward trend continues on feeder cattle
The upward trend continues in feeder cattle as prices were once again $3 to $5 per hundredweight (cwt) higher last week. Rain across Western Canada has renewed buying interest for grass cattle. Farmers with any significant amount of pasture are now shopping for feeder cattle. The optimistic outlook for fed cattle has also brought the […] Read more
Nestle foodservice plant backed for new equipment
An Ontario provincial economic development fund has topped up food firm Nestle’s plans for equipment upgrades at a processing plant supplying the foodservice sector. The Nestle Professional wing of Nestle Canada will get a $1.5 million grant from the province’s $80 million Eastern Ontario Development Fund (EODF), toward the cost of the company’s $14.6 million […] Read more
Cargill’s Guelph beef plant to feed power project
Cargill Meat Solutions is working toward a long-term deal to supply a proposed anaerobic digester generation plant with manure and other byproducts from its southern Ontario beef packing plant. Municipal power utility Guelph Hydro has picked up $1 million in provincial funding for engineering design work toward a digester project on city-owned land next to […] Read more
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