Livestock
With more Americans tightening their belts, demand for cheaper cuts of U.S. beef has actually pushed the price of select-grade beef higher than the generally more expensive choice cuts. For the first time in nearly two years, select-grade beef prices are above those for better-quality choice grade, according to U.S. government data. The data showed […] Read more
Bargain-hungry Americans bid up price of “cheap” beef
Premium Brands to buy Canada Bread sandwich business
Maple Leaf Foods’ bakery subsidiary Canada Bread has signed a deal to sell its fresh prepared sandwich business in Eastern Canada to food processor Premium Brands. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in either company’s release Monday, apart from supply agreements which will see Canada Bread and Maple Leaf Consumer Foods continue to supply the […] Read more
Provincial processor pilot project picks 19 packers
Canada’s agriculture ministers have tapped 19 provincially inspected meat packing operations to take part in a pilot project aimed at boosting the interprovincial meat trade. Coming out of a meeting last week in Toronto, the ministers said they were “preparing to launch” the 19 pilot projects, expecting to “enhance processors’ ability to sell their safe, […] Read more
Growing number of farm animals spawn new diseases
A growing number of livestock, such as cows and pigs, are fuelling new animal epidemics worldwide and posing more severe problems in developing countries as it threatens their food security, according to a report released Friday. Epidemics in recent years, such as SARS and the H1N1 flu, are estimated to have caused billions of dollars […] Read more
European Silage Solution Helps Beat Prairie Deluge
Reading Time: 2 minutes What do you do when it’s the end of June and the first cut is ready, but there’s rain in the forecast? The answer, generally, is silage. The problem is a silaging operation typically requires at least three people operating three machines – unless you have a self-loading silage wagon. Don Green, who runs a […] Read more
Providing Home Where Buffalo Roam Stirs Battles
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the first time in more than a century, wild buffalo from the nation’s last purebred herd will be permitted to roam free in Montana outside the bounds of Yellowstone National Park. On Jan. 11 government scientists drove 25 bison through ranchlands north of the park and into the wide-open valleys of the Gallatin National […] Read more
A Checklist For Buying A Four-Legged Vehicle
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you’re buying a vehicle, you should check out the features. That includes vehicles with four wheels and four legs, says Muffy Knox, an educator from Keoma, Alta., who trains both people and horses. Many people choose their horses based on their emotions and some buy their first horse because they are attracted to the […] Read more
Costa Rica Reopens To Canadian Beef
Reading Time: < 1 minute A relatively small buyer in Central America is Canada’s latest win in efforts to reopen international borders and ports to Canadian beef. Costa Rica, which shut the door on a quarter-million- dollar market for Canadian beef in 2003 following confirmation of Canada’s first domestic case of BSE, will now allow “full, unrestricted access” to Canadian […] Read more
Public Raising A Stink Over Confined Feeding Operations
Reading Time: 3 minutes Concerns are mounting about agriculture’s affect on air quality and odour, and the industry needs to be paying careful attention, according to a provincial specialist on livestock and the environment. The province has received more than 6,000 complaints over the past eight years about livestock operations, either because of the odour they cause or because […] Read more
Chef Trumpets Need To Promote Pork
Reading Time: 3 minutes Edmonton chef Brad Smoliak is passionate about food and especially pork, but he says barriers need to overcome in order to increase consumption. “Pork has become the new fish,” Smoliak told attendees at the the recent Banff Pork Seminar. “It’s the food they like other people to cook for them because they are intimidated by […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
