It’s an unfortunate reality for many farmers — the very frightening possibility of activists targeting them on their private property, where their homes are, where they care for their livestock and raise their children. Last weekend, Ontario dairy farmers were left shaken when activists trespassed on private property, entered barns without permission, and reportedly, even… Read More
Researchers in Ontario are working on establishing safe use guidelines for meloxicam, a pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication, in grain-fed veal production. The product is currently approved for use in dairy and beef cattle, but not for veal as there is no established withdrawal interval. Two University of Guelph professors, Dr. Ron Johnston and Dr. Dave… Read More
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
In August of last year Art Shaap’s life and livelihood changed in a heart beat. It was then that the owner of Highland Dairy in Clovis, New Mexico, started dumping 15,000 gallons of milk each day because his animals and seven of his 13 wells had been contaminated with runoff from the nearby Cannon Air… Read More
A new and timely research network being established this spring will provide the nation’s cow-calf industry with benchmark data to help with planning and management. The Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network is described as “a network of herds across the country that reflects the industry.” The network will involve 175 producers across Canada and a dozen… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) this week offered an update to the bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) case found in British Columbia late last year. The disease was found in the southern interior region of the province on October 26, 2018, and was announced publicly in November 2018. The investigation is on-going, says CFIA, and the agency… 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
Moving forward with its plan of having all sows in an open housing system, Maple Leaf Foods confirms as of now, 40,000 sows, or roughly 50 per cent of the herd, have moved over to the new system. When fully complete, Maple Leaf will become the first large-scale producer to have all of its female… Read More
Most livestock producers are aware that significant changes are coming to how they’ll access antibiotic medication for animals as of December 1, 2018. Beginning then, several commonly used antibiotic medications (especially those important for human medicine) will no longer be available through your feed or animal supply store, instead being accessible only through your veterinarian…. Read More
Sometimes you have to move slow to get where you want to go. The same can be said for cattle handling. Low stress cattle handling techniques don’t just make sense for animal welfare, they’re also a key component of verified sustainable beef production. Veterinarian Dr. Kip Lukasiewicz, head of animal handling, field research and facility… Read More
The 90-day consultation period regarding access to strychnine for rodent control in Canadian fields is drawing to a close. Back in July, Health Canada proposed the de-registration of the chemical, often used to curb rodent population in farmers fields as the department found the chemical was also causing harm to species-at-risk, such as the swift fox and the burrowing… Read More
Maple Leaf Foods (MLF) is spending $28 million to transitioning the company’s Edmonton poultry processing plant to a “world-class controlled atmosphere stunning (CAS) technology facility.” The company plans to convert is transportation, receiving and holding area and handling systems to optimize rest time and create a climate-controlled environment as it implements the CAS technology, the… Read More
What do you get when you connect two ‘city kid’ filmmakers, a world-class chef, and nine farmers and their families? You get Before The Plate, a genuine behind-the-kitchen-door, on-the-farm look at how food is produced in Canada, and the passion and commitment chefs and farmers apply to their craft. The driving force behind the film… Read More
There is often a good natured debate about what they are called. Officially, they are the Richardson Ground Squirrel. In polite company they are most often called gophers. In farm country, what they are called is mostly unprintable, especially the adjectives. That being said, the much-maligned pest may have just found an ally in the… Read More
Semex, a Canadian-based, farmer-owned cattle genetics company, and Recombinetics, a gene-editing company, have formed an alliance to bring hornless dairy cattle genetics forward through the use of TALENs technology. TALENs involves very precise gene editing that makes small adjustments to the genome of an animal to delete, repair, or replace individual elements of DNA. Because dairy cattle breeds… Read More