Livestock
Reading Time: < 1 minute The veterinary drug business of U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is on the block for a possible sale, spinoff or some other form of full or partial split from its parent. New York-based Pfizer announced July 7 it’s “exploring strategic alternatives” for its Pfizer Animal Health wing as well as its Pfizer Nutrition business, which deals […] Read more
Pfizer Sheds Animal Health Biz
Chief Vet Wants Diagnostic Testing Back In The Public Sector
Reading Time: 3 minutes After years of going without, Alberta may once more be home to inprovince animal diagnostic testing as early as this fall. “A bunch of the commodities had been talking and we brought it up with the chief provincial vet and we brought it up with the ag minister and they have applied for funding because […] Read more
Alien Weed Hits Cotton, Wheat In Syria, Iraq
Reading Time: < 1 minute An invasive alien weed, silverleaf nightshade, is theatening cotton and wheat crops in Syria and Iraq and could spread to Lebanon and Jordan, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. More than 60 per cent of farmland in Syria, growing mainly cotton and wheat, has been infested with silverleaf nightshade. The weed, originally […] Read more
Danish Research Targets Sow Longevity
Reading Time: 4 minutes In my previous article, I explained how the Danish industry is improving productivity and reducing production costs through a focused research and development program which quickly delivers solutions to producers. The degree of co-operation and co-ordination in the industry ensures that challenges are promptly identified and addressed. A good example of this is the research […] Read more
Tapping Into The Bank Of Knowledge In Our Senior Citizens
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two stories have recently inspired me to think about the role we play in our communities. The first wasMaking it Matterin the JuneReader’s Digest.Ontario middle and high school students pair up with senior citizens who live in the community and through the course of several weeks they compose a song, create a memoir, or stage […] Read more
Stampede backed for new ag hall
A new agricultural event centre and renewal of existing ag facilities at Calgary’s Stampede Park will get $25 million in provincial funding. The new facility, the Agrium Western Event Centre, is expected to “complement the existing facility and triple capacity and programming at the site” when it’s completed in 2014, the Alberta government said in […] Read more
XL Lakeside beef plant workers back new deal
Unionized workers at one of southern Alberta’s major beef slaughter plants have stepped back from the brink of a strike vote with decisive support for a new contract. Voting employees at XL Foods’ Lakeside beef plant at Brooks, Alta. went 92 per cent in favour of the new agreement at meetings Tuesday afternoon and evening, […] Read more
Dairy Farmers name new president
A Vancouver Island dairyman has been picked to replace Jacques Laforge as president of Dairy Farmers of Canada. Wally Smith, who farms at Chemainus, B.C., south of Nanaimo, was elected Wednesday by delegates at the association’s annual meeting in Winnipeg. Smith, who owns MariaHolme Farms, milks 75 cows and grows his own corn and forage, […] Read more
Feds pick pork over beef for Man. packer funding
Upgrades are on tap for a major pork packing plant in western Manitoba, using federal funding that has the province’s cattle producers asking now to call quits on a checkoff to support beef packing. The federal government on Wednesday announced a $10 million repayable loan for work at the HyLife Foods pork plant at Neepawa, […] Read more
AgriRecovery pledged following “extreme” B.C. weather
Cattle, bison and vegetable producers in parts of British Columbia can expect up to $5 million from two AgriRecovery programs in the wake of floods, droughts and wildfires during 2010 through to this spring. The joint federal/provincial programs, pledged Tuesday in Vancouver, are to include a feed assistance and pasture restoration initiative for cattle and […] Read more
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