emember your mother telling you to eat slowly and not gobble your food? As it turns out, Mom’s advice applies to calves as well as kids. Dairy hei fer calves are healthier if taught not to gulp down grain, according to research at the University of Guelph. Researchers found mixing grain with forage in a
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Small Hog Producers Get Manure Storage Break
Manitoba hog producers have received over $26 million to help small operators convert to large manure storages in advance of a 2013 ban on winter spreading. The money from Ottawa and the province will cover 75 per cent of a producer’s construction costs to a maximum $250,000. Ottawa funds 60 per cent of the three-year
Unshackle Food System, U.S. Activist Says
In Joel Salatin’s ideal world, food production would be local, farms would be diversified, livestock would gambol on pastures and regulations would be… well, deregulated. If you think Salatin wants to go back to the old manner of farming before large-scale commercial production took over, you could be right. At least the old-fashioned model was
Beef Industry Players Unite To Form National Agency Unilaterally
Anew national beef-marketing agency could be in place this summer even though one of the main parties involved refuses to endorse it. Canada’s provincial cat-t le associations are acting unilaterally to form the agency despite the fact that the Canada Beef Export Federation has not ratified it. A Feb. 17 CBEF special members’ meeting was
Next Year’s Prices Bode Well For “Next Year Country”
The Canadian Wheat Board is predicting generally higher wheat and durum prices for the upcoming crop year, the result of a tighter global supply- and-demand balance. Pool return outlook (PRO) prices for most wheat classes are up from the previous year’s PROs, according to the CWB’s first pool return outlook for 2011-12 released Feb. 28
Anaplasmosis Reappears In Southeastern Manitoba
More cases of anap lasmosis have been detected in southeastern Manitoba cattle after an outbreak in the region appeared to have died down last summer. Five new herds in the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn have been identified with anaplasmosis-positive cattle since October 2010, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed. Eight positive animals in two of
Avian Flu Halves Manitoba Chicken Exports
Acase of avian influenza in a turkey flock north of Winnipeg has had a backlash effect on Manitoba’s chicken industry. Chicken exports have been cut in half as a result of import restrictions on Manitoba poultry because of the AI outbreak last November, Manitoba Chicken Producers reports. Manitoba grows roughly five per cent of its
Farm Programs Need New Direction: Report
About five years ago, a special committee reviewing Canada’s agricultural policy framework heard a novel idea from chair Ed Tyrchniewicz. Noting that roughly 60 per cent of government funding for agriculture went to business risk management (BRM) programs, Tyrchniewicz suggested spending more on other areas instead. Research, maybe. Or science, innovation and market development. The
Redistributing Phosphorus Would Eliminate Feared Shortages: Study
Fears of a global shortage of phosphate fertilizer could be allayed if phosphorus use were distributed more evenly throughout the world, according to new research. Reducing phosphorus (P) fertilizer applications in some regions and increasing them in others would create an adequate balance for everyone, according to a recently published paper by a McGill University
BRM Review Progress Slow, Ministers Indicate
Progress toward developing a new set of farm support programs is slow and shows no signs of speeding up soon, judging from Canada’s agriculture ministers’ meeting Feb. 11. “There really seems to be a lack of progress going ahead,” said Ron Bonnett, Canadian Federation of Agriculture president, after ministers wrapped up their semiannual meeting in
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