The news Kicking off the Ontario portion of his cross-country summer tour, Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced $844,000 for Egg Farmers of Ontario at a farm in St. Ann’s on Tuesday. The funds will be used to assist in the development of an electronic scan to determine the gender and fertility of… Read More
Category: Animal Health
Saskatoon will soon be host to a UK company that develops rapid bacteria detection tests using blood and milk samples. Announced today, PBD Biotech has chosen Saskatoon, SK, as the headquarters for its Canadian subsidiary. The company’s Actiphage technology is a “highly sensitive and specific assay” that detects live bacteria in the blood or milk of… Read More
Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan was launched in 2015 to foster conversations with people in Saskatchewan about food and farming. We recently had a chance to catch up with Clint Monchuk, Executive Director with Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan (FFCS). Farm and Food Care had its origins in the Food and Animal Council (FAC). When… Read More
Beginning later this year, livestock owners across Canada will have to jump through one extra hoop before accessing certain antibiotic veterinary products. The move is part of a broader strategy to manage antibiotic resistance in human health, and it’s not without controversy. Starting in December, farmers will need an existing vet-client patient relationship (VCPR) to… Read More
At issue Ontario is set to introduce new rules and regulations as of July 1, 2018, regarding requirements for livestock rabies vaccination. All animals that will interact with the public will be required to maintain up-to-date vaccinations. Why is this a concern? Rabies isn’t fun, you guys. But also, the changes to rabies immunization requirements for… Read More
Better cow comfort can deliver a host of benefits for both the animal and the milk tank. Improving overall cow health, increasing cow longevity, and putting more milk in the tank are all byproducts of cow comfort. Dairy equipment suppliers are also focusing on the growing impact of heat stress, and French manufacturer Bioret Agri… Read More
The countdown to the sixth annual Canadian Dairy XPO is on as the dairy industry showcase readies to open its doors at the Stratford Fairgrounds on April 4th and 5th. Show attendance topped 16,000 in 2017, with 350 exhibitors representing 30 countries. CDX general manager and founder Jordon Underhill says a key driver of the show’s growth… Read More
From storage requirements to difficult-to-spell words like ‘Mannheimia haemolytica’ and ‘rhinotracheitis,’ there’s a lot to consider when it comes to vaccinating cattle. And that complexity is one of the reasons Cody Creelman, veterinarian and managing partner of Veterinary Agri-Health Services, suggests producers develop a customized, written vaccination protocol, with annual reviews. “It’s important to [re-assess it] every… Read More
Lambing is an exciting but exhausting time for sheep farmers. A typical breeding cycle with natural service over two heat cycles usually results in well over two weeks of late nights, early mornings, and intense work. To manage the labour load (pun intended), some farmers have adopted a synchronization and induction program to tighten the… Read More
Tim May says he’s “just a farmer down the road.” But the Rockwood, ON dairy farmer — better known as ‘Farmer Tim’ in the social media world — and his 43 cows are certainly punching above their weight in the fight to help consumers understand what really happens on the farm these days. Three years… Read More
There’s a reason young and beginning farmers often choose to start a sheep enterprise — local demand for lamb is double what we produce, you can keep quite a few sheep on a limited land base, and they’re affordable livestock that reproduce quickly. There’s also a reason that many new sheep farmers don’t last more… Read More
A short-acting, oral drench offered by Zoetis — Startect— has received Canadian approval for use in sheep for treatment and control of a range of adult and immature worms, including Haemonchus contortus (barber pole), and nematode parasites including Teladorsagie and Trichostrongylus. Startect contains two active ingredients, abamectic and derquantel, in one product so as to… Read More
If you have a sick animal, there’s no such thing as a “timely” veterinarian shortage. But the current situation, which is seeing fewer veterinary service hours available and much more demand expected, is particularly worrisome. It’s raising caution flags in the veterinary sector, and has a leading veterinary educator searching for solutions. Here’s the situation…. Read More
All livestock producers have been urged to cut unnecessary antibiotic use, to try to prevent resistant bacteria from developing in their herds and flocks. But on the farm, the question is where, and how? Consider dairy calves, for example. More than half of the deaths of dairy calves are from diarrhea. Producers often treat that… Read More
We often focus our efforts on what to add to a total mixed ration in order to offer our animals the highest plane of nutrition necessary for their life stage. But, what about the substances that could create serious health concerns, or even death? “Moulds are a fungal growth, and the mycotoxins are actually a… Read More