The National Farm Animal Care Council is digging in and forging ahead on one brand new livestock Code of Practice plus significant revisions on three more: goats for meat, fibre and dairy, dairy cattle, and livestock and poultry transport. Jackie Wepruk is the general manager of NFACC, and says that opening each of these codes… Read More
Author: Lyndseysmith 2
As we approach the ending of another winter, Mother Nature is not being kind. As some Ontario and Quebec farmers learned last week, wind-whipped snow loads can quickly become too much for even brand new construction. Reports of at least one dairy barn, a hog barn, and a drive shed collapsing in the last week has… Read More
Oleen Smethurst doesn’t choose what food trend consumers should hop on, but in her quest to provide new flavours and convenience for Costco’s Canadian customers, she’s inadvertently part of the push. Smethurst is assistant vice president, buying and operations — produce for Costco Wholesale Canada, based in Ottawa. Leading a team of nearly 30, it’s… Read More
It’s a running joke among sheep farmers that 99% of a sheep farmer’s job is saving these wooly beasts from the 1,001 ways they try to die. After a few years owning sheep, I am still surprised by the silly ways they get into a pickle, but there’s likely nothing more frustrating than losing a… Read More
The Canadian Sheep Federation and the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) recently reached an agreement outlining the roles and responsibilities of each group in delivery of the Canadian Sheep Identification Program (CSIP). As part of the agreement, the per tag fee of $0.23 currently collected to fund the program will increase to $0.59/tag by the… Read More
Have you heard about veganuary? It’s January, but where you give up eating meat and other animal-based food and home products. The latest celebrities to jump on this bandwagon are Beyoncé and Jay-Z (in case that matters to you), and given that it’s “new year, new you” season, I’m sure there will be many, many… Read More
The news Precision ag company Farmers Edge and ag retail and grain handling company Richardson Pioneer Limited have announced a multi-year partnership that will “distribute digital precision technology to growers served by over 90 retail locations across Western Canada.” The two Manitoba-based companies will “work together to deliver state-of-the-art digital agriculture products for retail and… Read More
If ever you’ve been hugely frustrated by misinformation swirling around about how food is grown, you’ve probably also wondered what can be done about it. While farmers have been encouraged to “tell their stories,” many feel that, as an industry, the information shared is not being picked up. That is partially true, as the latest… Read More
In the midst of peak sheep breeding season, many farmers are faced with the tough call — do you put the rams in with the ewe lambs now, or wait until the ewe lambs are older? Like most production-related questions, the answer is: it depends. A ewe lamb that gives birth around her first birthday… Read More
Much of what we produce in agriculture ends up wasted, not eaten. While food waste in your own home may be the first thing you think of, much of food loss and waste happens at processing. Speaking this week at the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI) Public Trust Summit, Cher Mereweather, executive director of… Read More