Reuters — A U.S. judge has barred Kraft, Kellogg and other major food producers from showing what the court called “shocking” and “heart-wrenching” videos of conditions inside certain hen houses at an upcoming antitrust trial against egg producers and marketers. In a ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger in Chicago said the risk […] Read more
‘Shocking’ farm videos barred at egg-price antitrust trial in Chicago
Food firms sought to show animal care claims not genuine
Conditioning key to transport success
Reading Time: < 1 minute The results of a four-year animal transport research study, funded in part by Alberta Beef Producers, suggest the most important animal welfare factor in transport may be conditioning before they get on the truck. Researchers found that rest stops had minimal impact on animal welfare. The biggest difference was in conditioned versus non-conditioned calves. In […] Read more
Survey says Canadians want cage-free eggs but purchase choices don’t agree
The Canadian egg-farming sector is about halfway into a transition to enriched cage housing
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Do Canadians want cage-free eggs? Survey says yes. But the data says they’re not voting with their wallets. In a survey of more than 1,000 Canadians, 72 per cent of respondents said Canada’s code of practice should ban caged confinement of laying hens. The survey, released this summer, comes from Bryant Research, […] Read more
Activists target Ontario hog farm with ransomware
'We are dealing with adversaries whose motivation is not money'
A ransomware on a small Ontario hog business is something a cybersecurity expert says needs more attention from the agriculture industry. Instead of cash, the attackers demanded the hog business owners publicly admit to what they alleged to be livestock mistreatment. The occurrence was unique and alarming, says Ali Dehghantanha, Canada research chair in cybersecurity […] Read more
Animal care council won’t update livestock transport code of practice
NFACC says 'no further action' pending
After over four years’ publicly funded work to develop an updated national code of practice for livestock transport for Canada, the National Farm Animal Care Council has called a halt. In an information update dated May 1, NFACC said its board has now decided “no further action will be taken” by the council to update […] Read more
U.S. Supreme Court upholds California’s pig confinement law
Dissent suggests 'substantial burden against interstate commerce'
Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday preserved a California law banning the sale of pork in America’s most-populous state from pigs kept in tightly confined spaces, rejecting an industry challenge claiming that the voter-backed animal welfare measure impermissibly regulates out-of-state farmers. The justices voted 5-4 to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of a […] Read more
Continuous tie-stall housing to be phased out in new dairy code of practice
Producer, animal welfare groups praise new code; some drawbacks were noted
New guidelines for dairy cattle care will improve animal welfare while also potentially increasing farm productivity, Dairy Farmers of Canada says. “I think that we’ve come to a very solid revised code,” David Wiens, DFC’s vice-president, said in an interview. The National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) on Thursday released its revised Code of Practice […] Read more
Piglet ‘weaning ramp’ earns Aherne Prize
Temple Grandin praises innovative ramp that saves the backs of workers and is gentler on piglets
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Two employees of HyLife sow farms in La Broquerie, Man., have won the F. X. Aherne Prize for Innovative Pork Production at the 2023 Banff Pork Seminar. In most sow farms, the weaning process typically involves picking up piglets, vaccinating them and separating them by sex. But repeatedly collecting and picking up […] Read more
There are many ways of dealing with a product shortage
Vaccine shortages happen, but there are usually alternatives for dealing with the situation
Reading Time: 3 minutes The shortage of scour vaccine illustrates how the cattle industry can respond to issues that are bound to happen in a world with manufacturing failures, transportation issues and problems that can plague biological products. There are three pharmaceutical manufacturers of scour vaccines, so when one is rumoured to run out, veterinarians search the others. Many […] Read more
Lethbridge researcher honoured
Reading Time: < 1 minute Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein is the 2022 recipient of the Metacam 20 Bovine Welfare Award for her pioneering work in developing animal welfare standards and contributing to guidelines and regulations. A senior research scientist with Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge station, her research interests include pain/stress assessment and mitigation strategies associated with routine management procedures such as transport, castration, […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
