Livestock
Reading Time: 3 minutes “We need to take action before imposed change comes at us – that was the strongest message we kept repeating and repeating.” with files from AFAC and Meristem Fifteen years ago a group of livestock and poultry organizations made some tentative steps to establishing an animal welfare organization that reflected the voice of commercial animal […] Read more
Two Veterans Honoured At Annual Meeting
Recognizing Sick Pigs Requires Skill
Reading Time: 4 minutes There are few pig production skills that are as fundamental as the ability to recognize a sick, injured or disadvantaged pig so that action can be taken to treat it, euthanize it or remove it from the group. Yet it’s clear from my experience visiting many farms that this skill is not universal and that […] Read more
Poultry Feed Pulled On SRM Concern
Reading Time: < 1 minute A batch of poultry feed products made by an unnamed Alberta rendering plant is being pulled from sale for disposal on concerns that it may contain prohibited cattle parts. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a statement Mar. 28 that it has launched an investigation into what it calls “potentially contaminated feed products.” “Information […] Read more
Calf Health Is Job One For Dairy Producers
Reading Time: 2 minutes “It’s imperative that we have this stuff very rapidly cooled. We need to treat it just like we treat milk that we’re going to sell.” Bob James says that while milk production is key to a successful dairy herd, producers might think more about measuring their success in raising healthy dairy calves. James, extension scientist […] Read more
Focus On Diet Improves Feet
Reading Time: < 1 minute Hoof problems with dairy cattle can be reduced with micronutrient supplementation, says a professor at the University of Calgary. Dr. Christoph Muelling told the Western Canadian Dairy Seminar here last month that nutrition is only one of the factors that may influence hoof health, but its impact is largely underestimated. Muelling said costs associated with […] Read more
Ontario Pork elects new brass
Ontario Pork’s first female chair and a number of new directors will lead the organization while a major overhaul of its mandate waits in the wings, pending hog farmers’ appeals. Previously the director for Zone B (Districts 7-12), Wilma Jeffray of Bruce County was elected last week as chair for a one-year term, replacing Curtiss […] Read more
Man. Pork Council votes to restructure
In keeping with its declining active membership, the Manitoba Pork Council plans to redraw its district map to bring three fewer directors to its board table. Following its annual general meeting last week in Winnipeg, MPC chairman Karl Kynoch told the hog industry-sponsored radio program Farmscape that paying three fewer directors to attend meetings and […] Read more
Canada to take Korea’s beef ban to WTO
Canada hopes to reopen the “key” South Korean market for Canadian beef exports through consultations at the World Trade Organization. International Trade Minister Stockwell Day announced Thursday that the federal government has asked the WTO to begin consultations on the topic of Seoul’s “unjustified” ban on imports of Canadian beef. “We are now taking the […] Read more
Pork exports seen slipping 10 per cent in 2009
(Resource News International) — Total Canadian pork product exports are expected to slip in 2009 due to production declines in the Canadian hog sector. “Because hog production will go down in 2009, the best we can think of is to maintain the same levels as last year but realistically we may have to expect a […] Read more
Use low-phytate barley or lose it, breeder warns
A feed barley variety that allows hogs to use dietary phosphorus rather than lose it to manure will now need enough hog producers to use it so as to encourage more seed production. Barley breeder Brian Rossnagel of the University of Saskatchewan recently warned that the pedigreed seed industry will need hog producers to send […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
