Reading Time: 3 minutes Poultry manure and that annoying green slime which grows in our lakes each summer could hold the key to helping the province’s oilsands mining companies and coal-fired power plants clean up their act, while producing a valuable commodity in the process. Researchers have discovered a strain of naturally occurring micro-algae that can scrub 100 per […] Read more
Call it a win-win: Curbing pollution with chicken manure
Scientists have found a type of micro-algae that gobbles up greenhouse gas emissions — and it has a taste for nutrient-rich chicken manure, too
SW Ontario pullet flock’s ILT contained
A warning to southwestern Ontario’s poultry producers in May to step up biosecurity over a non-avian-flu-related disease outbreak has been lifted. The Feather Board Command Centre, the emergency response office for Ontario’s poultry and egg sector boards, last week issued a “stand down” for heightened biosecurity, following an outbreak of avian infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) in […] Read more
Ont. avian flu quarantines not yet ready to go
Federal officials expect southwestern Ontario’s avian flu quarantines and control zones to stay in place for “several” more weeks yet. The Feather Board Command Centre (FBCC), the emergency response office for Ontario’s poultry and egg sector boards, said June 19 it’s been told by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) the “original projected timelines are […] Read more
Dairy farmers worry Trans-Pacific trade deal could hurt
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s powerful dairy industry on Friday expressed concern it could suffer if talks to create a Pacific trade treaty open up heavily protected Canadian markets to more foreign competition. Some of the 12 nations taking part in negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) want Canada to start dismantling a system known […] Read more
U.S. egg prices to hit record high due to avian flu
Chicago | Reuters — The average price of a dozen eggs in the U.S. will climb to a record high this year due to the nation’s worst-ever outbreak of bird flu in poultry, U.S. Department of Agriculture data issued Wednesday showed. USDA, in a monthly supply and demand report, increased its forecast for the price […] Read more
Premises ID now online for Sask. livestock producers
Saskatchewan’s premises ID (PID) system for livestock producers has officially gone online, the provincial and federal ag ministries announced Monday. While the province’s livestock commodity groups and provincial ag ministry have so far helped about 1,400 producers register their operations, the new system will allow producers to sign up, log in and make changes to […] Read more
CFIA declares B.C. avian flu-free
With three months’ distance from the cleanup at the last of the province’s infected poultry barns, the federal government has declared British Columbia free of highly pathogenic avian flu. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Monday it had notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) that B.C. is considered free of notifiable avian influenza, […] Read more
Worst U.S. avian flu outbreak ever expands to Michigan
Chicago | Reuters — Michigan on Monday said Canada geese in the state tested positive for a lethal strain of bird flu, bringing the worst outbreak of the disease in U.S. history to a 21st state. Three young geese collected at Sterling Heights, Mich., about 35 km north of Windsor, Ont., were infected with the […] Read more
Quebec plans new legal status for animals
Quebec’s agriculture minister has tabled a new provincial government bill to raise the legal status of domestic and farmed animals in the province beyond that of “furniture.” Pierre Paradis on Friday introduced Bill 54 in the provincial assembly, with the stated goal of enshrining animals in Quebec’s Civil Code as sentient beings — that is, feeling and […] Read more
USDA refuses farmers’ requests on avian flu vaccine
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it would not allow commercial release of a poultry vaccine to fight the worst outbreak of bird flu in U.S. history because it was not effective enough. The agency said in a notice that additional criteria must be met before a vaccine can be […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
