Editor’s note: This letter was submitted by Jeff Nonay in response to a column written by Shaun Haney that was published on Nov. 13th. Nonay and his wife Coralee own and operate Lakeside Dairy, a diversified farming operation near Edmonton, Alberta bringing to market milk, beef, grain and seed potatoes. In your recent post “Hey dairy,… Read More

In the dairy food value chain processors play an integral role in product development. Dairy product development puts dairy components in protein bars, protein powder, ice cream, yogurt and baby formula. to name just a few. At Farm Journal’s MILK Business Conference, attendees heard from Micheal Dykes, President and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association…. Read More

Differentiating products through marketing has long been a goal of commodity groups. The Alberta Beef Producers have (according to their website) promoted the Alberta Beef brand for thirty years. It featured widely-recognized advertisements like that of three female ranchers leaning on a fence, with text that read, “If it ain’t Alberta, it ain’t beef.” Increasingly, the… Read More

The Southwest Agricultural Conference (SWAC) will mark its 25th anniversary on January 3rd, when the two-day conference unofficially kicks off Ontario’s winter farm meeting season. Over the past quarter century, SWAC, hosted by the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown campus, has become one of the leading farm conferences in North America. How did it start? How… Read More

It really seems that NAFTA is on thin ice, and this proverbial frozen trade pond seems to be full of cracks. North American agriculture is holding its breath before it’s plunged into the cold water under that ice, except, there is one agriculture group that has nothing to lose. They’re standing on land, by themselves:… Read More

Mycotoxin and mould growth in dairy feed can lead to lower milk production, poor animal health and reduced profits. This impact on production is not a new discovery for dairy producers, but there certainly is a growing awareness of the problem, says North Carolina State University professor emeritus Dr. Lon Whitlow. “A large part of it… Read More

Just leave it alone. Don’t ask for too much and jeopardize a deal that could potentially be finalized this weekend. That’s what Canadian agriculture groups representing farmers who depend on trade are telling the Ottawa as leaders from the remaining 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries head to Vietnam. The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance sent a strongly-worded… Read More

The federal government has decided to not make any changes to how it treats deferred cash purchase tickets for grain after proposing in the 2017 budget to potentially eliminate the option. Many farm groups voiced their opposition to the idea of dropping the income tax deferral mechanism during consultations held in spring and early summer…. Read More

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) provided an update on the bovine tuberculosis investigation on Friday, while the federal government announced additional tax relief on Monday. Testing has now expanded to trace-in herds, with the majority of the on-farm testing planned to be completed by the end of December. As… Read More

Chicken Farmers of Canada says it is welcoming Alberta producers back to the flock after the province withdrew from the national agreement that determines how much production each province is allocated under the national supply management system for chicken. CFC says it has a new federal-provincial agreement “in hand” after the Farm Products Council of… Read More

Montreal-based dairy company Saputo has announced another international acquisition — the largest goat cheese manufacturer in the U.S. Saputo says it has entered an agreement to acquire Betin, Inc., which operates mainly under the Montchevre brand, and employs 319 people at its manufacturing facility in Belmont, Wisconsin. Montchevre generated C$150 million in revenues in the… Read More

McDonald’s has announced that they are “elevating [their] global commitment to source chickens raised with improved welfare outcomes”. It’s a topic that has been on the company’s radar for decades, according to Bruce Feinberg, senior director at McDonald’s, responsible for Global Quality Systems for chicken, beef, pork, fish and dairy products. “Shortly after I joined McDonald’s in… Read More

Flying, biting midges (Culicoides spp.) — sometimes called no-see-ums — are a scourge to wildlife. Hunters recognize their effects on deer in particular, which are highly susceptibility to a group of midge-transmitted viruses. But there are growing concerns about their potential effect on livestock, too. Here’s why. A midge swarm will blood-feed on animals, causing… Read More

 

Register for a RealAgriculture account to manage your Shortcut menu instead of the default.

Register