Environmental issues remain a hot topic for provincial agriculture ministers. That and sustainable agriculture dominated discussions during the recent federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) agriculture ministers meeting in Fredericton, N.B. The annual conference was held from July 19-21. The focus on sustainable agriculture tracks, as this is the first time the ministers have met since […] Read more
Federal and provincial ag ministers meet in Fredericton
Olds researchers aim for better brew of malting barley varieties
Breeders aim for a package that keeps both the farmers and the customers happy
Reading Time: 2 minutes Plant breeders have many challenges, but malting barley breeders have an extra one. Customers sometimes like their varieties so much that they’re reluctant to change to ones that are better for farmers. “We are looking at things that are not only going to be good in production and give farmers higher yields and ultimately more […] Read more
The crush is coming — will canola growers roll the rotation dice?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Shortening rotations to meet demand from a spate of new crush plants will backfire, say experts Prairie canola growers will need to up production to meet the growing demand from a rash of new crush plants in Saskatchewan. But they won’t get there by sacrificing sustainability, says the Canola Council of Canada. “For us, it’s […] Read more
The fall run is tough on calves but we can do better
The health problems seen in the feedlot don’t come out of the blue and careful handling should start at the home ranch
Reading Time: 3 minutes With the fall run underway, cattlemen and women are faced again with the challenge of morbidity and mortality in calves. By the time calves land in the feed yard, they have often been handled and transported several times. How they fight off disease during that extraordinarily stressful period is related to their age and weight. […] Read more
University of Alberta-led swine study tackles next health frontier
Study focuses on using genomic tools to protect swine exposed to multiple disease threats
Reading Time: 2 minutes If Canada is going to maintain a successful position in the global pork marketplace, swine health and animal care promises to be one of the deciding factors. Sustainable production and competitive pricing will be priorities and swine health and welfare is both a social requirement and necessity for sustainable production. Porcine health management represents a […] Read more
Pig producers warned to be on the lookout
Seneca Valley virus is a concern because its symptoms are the same as those for foot-and-mouth
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you see blisters around the mouth, hoof, or nose of your pigs, you need to call your veterinarian immediately. Seneca Valley virus, which causes these blisters, is a swine disease that has recently become more prevalent in the U.S. “Seneca Valley virus is a concern because you can’t distinguish it from the really scary […] Read more
What Consumer Reports said about beef safety
The organization claims that drug-resistant bacteria pose a serious and growing health threat
Reading Time: 3 minutes The following is excerpted from The Beef Report produced by Consumer Reports’ Food Safety and Sustainability Center. The full report can be found here. The danger of superbugs Foodborne illness caused by drug-resistant bacteria, such as the antibiotic-resistant strains of salmonella that have caused beef-related outbreaks in recent years, are also a major cause for […] 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
Antimicrobial use in livestock under the microscope
Expert says ‘there definitely is a chain’ connecting farms to the rise in antimicrobial resistance
Reading Time: 4 minutes Antimicrobial resistance is like a forest fire — because only you can take steps to prevent it. Think about resistance every time you use antimicrobials, producers were told during Alberta Pork’s latest telephone town hall. “Any single time one of us uses an antimicrobial, we are tipping the scales toward resistance, said Dr. Leigh Rosengren, […] Read more
Greenhouse media can be reused several times under certain conditions
In Europe, greenhouse operators are reusing growing media five or six times without raising disease levels
Reading Time: 2 minutes While reusing greenhouse media makes economic sense, disease and changes to physical properties are just two of the issues that need to be considered. “Greenhouse vegetable culture in Alberta has changed substantially over the last 30 years,” said Dustin Morton, a commercial horticulture specialist with the Alberta Ag-Info Centre in Stettler. “Currently, it is not […] Read more
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