Livestock

The Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) will use a federal investment of $350,000 to build a pilot-scale anaerobic digester for potential use in generating energy from livestock wastes. Through its Applied Bioenergy Centre (ABC), PAMI plans to use its digester to evaluate the feasibility of livestock operators and/or municipal landfills producing their own sustainable energy […] Read more

REVISED, May 11 — Animal welfare considerations on a quarantined Alberta farm have led its owner to euthanize 500 of his 2,200 hogs. Clearwater County hog producer Arnold Van Ginkel, consulting with federal and provincial animal health officials and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, decided on “humane depopulation” as the best course of action for […] Read more

U.S. retail giant Walmart’s expansion into the western Canadian grocery market will be supported by what it calls one of the largest perishable-food distribution facilities in Canada. Walmart Canada announced Friday that it will start work immediately on a $115 million, 400,000-square foot distribution centre at Balzac, Alta., just north of Calgary. The centre, which […] Read more

Environmental biologists at the University of Guelph say wastes from farming are the main source of E. coli contaminating a well-known recreational region of Lake Huron. Biology professor Jack Trevors said Thursday that his study, co-authored with colleague Hung Lee and researchers from the Ontario environment ministry, shows “almost two-thirds” of the bacteria studied the […] Read more

The results of its survey on the need for training in agriculture have an Alberta ag research and extension group planning training opportunities for new and “transitioning” farmers. The Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA) will now explore the ways and means to deliver such training, under the tentative name “FarmCraft.” “Now that […] Read more

Research led by the University of Alberta has come up with mathematical formulae that will allow ranchers to predict how much methane their cattle emit based on diet. “Methane is a greenhouse gas, and in Canada, cattle account for 72 per cent of the total emissions,” Stephen Moore, a professor in the U of A’s […] Read more

“Unjustified” import bans on pork and pork products from Canada, the U.S. or Mexico will be met with preventive steps, the three nations’ top trade officials warned Thursday. Canada’s International Trade Minister Stockwell Day, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Mexico’s Secretary of the Economy Gerardo Ruiz Mateos jointly called Thursday for an end to […] Read more

Anyone or any group planning to run an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) derby or rally on Manitoba Crown land or into provincial forests must now get a permit to do so. The new policy, which won’t apply to snowmobile events, takes effect immediately and will carry a maximum penalty of $10,000 for violations under the provincial […] Read more

On the heels of a group of southern Alberta farmers losing a court appeal over the siting of a high-voltage line to the U.S., the Alberta government plans to consider new options for such lines in the future. Provincial Energy Minister Mel Knight on Thursday announced his department will commission a study of electricity system […] Read more

The trade dispute Canada put on the back burner over the United States’ country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law on meat and other foods has officially returned to the front burner. International Trade Minister Stockwell Day and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz confirmed Thursday that Ottawa has formally applied to the World Trade Organization for consultations with the […] Read more