Reading Time: 4 minutes Long warm days call for cool refreshing treats such as ice cream. One afternoon I was enjoying a milky bar — ignoring the calories and savouring the apparent goodness — when I glanced at the ingredients on the box. Sugar, fat, cholesterol in mind-numbing percentages were accepted — with a good dose of guilt. What […] Read more
An unsettling discovery via a cool summer treat
Who would have guessed that propylene glycol is a permitted ingredient in a food product?
Spate of new EIA cases may up pressure to combat ‘swamp fever’ in horses
Many consider Western Canada to be lax in its efforts to eradicate equine infectious anemia, but that may soon change
Reading Time: 4 minutes A smattering of new cases of equine infectious anemia in Alberta and Saskatchewan may intensify the pressure to implement new, and costly, measures to control the potentially devastating disease. Four cases of the disease (typically called EIA or ‘swamp fever’) have been found in Alberta and two in Saskatchewan this year. The first three Alberta […] Read more
CFIA looking for feedback on food labels, labelling
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is seeking feedback on options to change food labels and the food labelling system. Specific options, such as revising the format of best before dates, expanding food class names (such as vegetable oil or flavour), and changing the required contact information for food dealers are proposed in an online survey […] Read more
Going ‘off label’ is a bad idea all around when it comes to pesticides
You can not only be fined, but also put your customers, the environment and your business at risk
Reading Time: 2 minutes The practice of ‘off-label’ spraying is not only illegal and can result in severe fines, but can also be very dangerous for your clients, your livelihood, and the environment, says a provincial commercial horticulture specialist. “Horticultural chemicals and pesticides often have the dubious distinction of being more expensive than their field crop cousins. In order […] Read more
Crackdown on shipping unfit animals working
The Western Hog Exchange now seeing far less downers, but officials say even a few are too many
Reading Time: 3 minutes A crackdown on shipping unfit animals is paying off, says the chairman of the Western Hog Exchange. “I don’t have the statistics to back it up, but the general consensus is that we have seen a significant improvement in the animals coming to the plants,” Brent Moen said in an interview. The Red Deer hog […] Read more
Dealing with a lack of calcium in pregnant cows
Beef and forage specialist Barry Yaremcio does the math on providing this mineral to pregnant cows
Reading Time: 2 minutes When feeding cereal silage, greenfeed or swath grazing to pregnant cows, there can be a concern with a lack of calcium and magnesium. An added product can often be the solution. “In this situation, an added product should have more calcium than phosphorus,” said Barry Yaremcio, beef and forage specialist, with the Ag-Info Centre in […] Read more
Officials stress need for testing
The latest BSE case only increases the need for Canada to test 30,000 animals yearly
Reading Time: 4 minutes Keep calm and carry on testing. That’s the message going out to producers following the latest case of BSE in an Alberta cow. “At times like this, it’s as important, if not more so, to continue with surveillance and be vigilant,” Canadian Food Inspection Agency official Craig Price told attendees at the recent Alberta Beef […] Read more
Federal official says UPOV ’91 will benefit farmers
Commissioner of plant breeders’ rights says enhanced intellectual property protection will bring more investment, better varieties, and greater choice
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s a mistake to think that enhanced plant breeders’ rights only benefit seed companies, says the commissioner of plant breeders’ rights with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. “The net benefit, at the end of the day, is really going to be for farmers,” said Anthony Parker at FarmTech in January. The federal government is poised […] Read more
Hens near Chilliwack catch H5N1 avian flu
About 95 layer hens on a “non-commercial” farm near Chilliwack are the Fraser Valley’s latest cases of avian influenza, but not of the same strain seen at 12 other farms in December. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Saturday announced a quarantine on the Chilliwack farm after confirming, effective Feb. 2, that table egg-laying birds […] Read more
Officials at Red Deer hog facility vow animal abuse won’t happen again
Western Hog Exchange chair says he doesn’t like animal rights group’s tactics but says its undercover video will result in ‘very positive changes’
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Western Hog Exchange has one message for the pork industry in the wake of animal abuse allegations at its Red Deer facility. “What we saw is not acceptable,” said Brent Moen, chairman of the farmer-owned exchange. “We’re introducing changes, and we’re taking responsibility for this. And we will make improvements to our process.” An […] Read more
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