We now know the terms of dairy farmers’ compensation: each Canadian will give $46 each to dairy farmers over the next 8 years while paying exorbitant retail prices for many dairy products. Eggs and poultry are coming next. And don’t hold your breath because more money given to dairy farmers won’t change much of anything… Read More
The Senate Finance Hearing on United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) took place in Washington, D.C., this week. Discussion centred on the importance of North American free trade to U.S. agriculture and the economy as a whole. Agriculture was well represented on the panel by former USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, who is the current president… Read More
Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Ltd., a cow, and goat milk dairy processor will receive up to $16.9 million through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Dairy Processing Investment Fund (DPIF). With this funding, Gay Lea Foods is expanding its Teeswater, Ont., facility and will install advanced… Read More
Highline Manufacturing has released the first North American designed and manufactured self-propelled feed mixer on the market last week at Ag in Motion at Langham, Sask. The AccuMix 1000 was designed for feeding cattle in all conditions — including extreme ones. “It’s a thousand cubic foot tub, 300 horsepower CAT engine,” says Bob Cochran, general… Read More
Most by now are aware of the risk of Lyme disease, a bacterial diseased transmitted through deer ticks. But a relatively new tick has been found with increasing frequency in Canada — and the fallout of its bite is also serious. A bite from the Lone Star tick — named for the single white dot… Read More
Lameness is the dairy industry’s leading and most visible animal welfare concern. It’s also among the top three health challenges, along with mastitis and reproductive problems. Veterinarian Dr. Laura Solano, dairy cattle extension specialist at Calgary, Alberta-based Farm Animal Care Associates, says that despite the negative impacts to lameness, studies show that 15 to 30… Read More
Dairy Distillery, the Almonte, Ont.-based processor turning waste milk sugar into vodka, recently received an Excellence in Agriculture award from the province. Made from milk permeate, a byproduct of milk processing, Dairy Distillery’s Vodkow product was launched in 2018. Most milk permeate is currently disposed of, at a cost to dairy farmers. “Ontario’s agri-food sector… Read More
Earlier this year, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) informed the government it would no longer be carrying out animal welfare law enforcement. The announcement has spurred the need for an overhaul of Ontario’s Ontario Animal Protection Act, but also left a gap between the current set up and the… Read More
Retiring alfalfa fields used to be a simple process. Conventional tillage farmers would just drop the mouldboard plow in the fall, while those under a minimum tillage system would rely on a glyphosate burndown before planting a new crop the following spring. With the introduction of glyphosate tolerant (GT) alfalfa, however, glyphosate is no longer… Read More
Though there is still much to know about prions and prion diseases, we’ve come a long way since the first case found of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a domestic cow in Canada, and the launch of the Alberta Prion Research Institute. “I think we have come quite a ways,” says Kevin Keough, executive director… Read More
Yet another undercover animal abuse video rolled out last week, filmed months ago by animal rights “activists,” and released just as tweets and photos celebrating June as Dairy Month began. In the same week, mainstream media published several stories following up on what many farmers had brought forward at the Standing Committee on Agriculture: that… Read More
Often prescribed for curing thrush and other fungal infections of humans and a common ingredient in foot and hoof treatments for livestock, Health Canada has come out and said gentian violet increases the risk of cancer and is urging everyone — farmers included — to stop using any products that include the ingredient. Following a… Read More
U.S.-based Fair Oaks Farms dairy is under fire this week after an animal rights group circulated a video showing abuse of dairy calves at the dairy. Fair Oaks is a supplier of Coca-Cola’s Fairlife milk brand. Owner Dr. Mike McCloskey posted a video statement on the company’s web page. In it, McCloskey apologizes for the… Read More
The United States and Canada have found a truce on the steel and aluminum tariffs which, as promised, presents a window to ratify USMCA (NAFTA 2.0) before the fall. As export-related agricultural commodity organizations push for a Canadian ratification of the USMCA agreement, the Dairy Farmers of Canada is asking the Canadian government to tap… Read More
Earlier this year, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) announced it would no longer carry out enforcement of Ontario’s animal welfare laws. The announcement has spurred Ontario’s government to evaluate how animal welfare enforcement is handled in the province and will shape new animal welfare legislation. As part of that… Read More