Hogs & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

Canada takes COOL to WTO

By Ron Friesen December 4, 2008

“… a needless and expensive thickening of the border.” – Gerry Ritz Canada has launched a WTO trade action against the U. S. mandatory country-of-origin meat labelling rule. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade Minister Stockwell Day made the announcement at a news conference in Ottawa Monday. The Canadian government has initiated formal

Hogs, News

Plans to open Saskatchewan slaughter plant in 2009 still in place

By Alana Vannahme November 27, 2008

“COOL just makes our plant that much more attractive.” – Jim Ramsay The chairman of the Saskatchewan Slaughter Plant Initiative says the group continues to move ahead with plans to construct a one-million-head-per-year hog slaughter plant to open by next fall. “We know that the best time to start production is the fall, to open

Hogs, Livestock, News

German hog farms adapt to stall-free, drug-free model

By Jim Romahn November 27, 2008

Germany, it appears, could teach Canadian hog farmers a thing or two. And two of its hog producers came here to the annual swine industry seminar recently to do exactly that. German producers have learned through trial and “a lot of mistakes” how to raise hogs in free-stall conditions, said Dr. Friedrich Osterhoff of Ahrhoff

Beef cattle, Hogs, Livestock, News

Federal action urged to reopen beef markets

By Ron Friesen November 27, 2008

Canada’s livestock producers, fed up with international trade barriers, want the federal government to do much more to open up foreign markets for their products. A new industry report recommends 25 steps for Ottawa to take in gaining greater access for Canada’s agricultural exports, especially beef. That includes creating a separate bureaucracy for negotiating international

Hogs, Livestock

COOL to slash Manitoba weanling production

By Ron Friesen November 20, 2008

“Half of the weanlings could be gone by next summer.” – KARL KYNOCH Manitoba’s multimillion-dollar weanling pig industry could be cut in half next year because of the recent U. S. country-of-origin meat labelling rule. The Manitoba Pork Council predicts weanling production could fall to two million head in 2009, down from four million projected

Hogs, Livestock, News, Poultry

California resolution rings alarm for livestock farmers in Canada

By Ron Friesen November 20, 2008

Largely unnoticed during the November 4 U. S. presidential election was the passage of a sweeping California ballot initiative which could have far-reaching effects for livestock production in North America. Proposition 2 will effectively ban gestation stalls, battery cages and veal crates in California by 2015. The initiative, which voters passed by a margin of

Cereals, Hogs, News

U. S. election raises protectionist fears

By Ron Friesen November 13, 2008

Canadian agriculture officials fear an increased wave of U. S. trade protectionism following last week’s election of a Democratic president and a heavily Democratic Congress. Fairly or otherwise, Democrats are viewed outside the United States as much more protectionist than free -trade Republicans. The temptation to protect jobs at home becomes especially strong as the

Hogs, News

Hog co-op sees a small but reliable American market

By Ron Friesen November 13, 2008

“It keeps our feet inside the American border.” – JOHN PREUN, MANITOBA PORK MARKETING CO-OP Manitoba pork producers could soon be part owners of a hog slaughter plant in North Dakota. The Manitoba Pork Marketing Co-op may join a group of hog farmers from northern U. S. states in taking majority ownership of a small

Hogs, News, Poultry

California cage ban might be contagious

By Bob Burgdorfer November 13, 2008

Farm groups have criticized a new California law that bans keeping chickens, calves, and pigs in cages, arguing it will increase production costs, while animal welfare proponents said they hope to get similar laws adopted in other states. California voters passed Proposition 2 on Nov. 4, which bans the confinement of egg-laying chickens, veal calves

Hogs, Livestock, News

U. K. producers have success with batch farrowing

November 13, 2008

Bernie Peet is president of Pork Chain Consulting Ltd. of Lacombe, Alberta, and editor of Western Hog Journal. His columns will run every second week in the Manitoba Co-operator. A recent survey by U. K. pharmaceutical company Janssen Animal Health suggests that more than half of producers in the country farrow batches of sows every

Daily Network News

Prairie Wheat Weekly: Rising loonie pushes down cash prices

Prairie forecast: Arctic air dominates the forecast

Bayer takes its multi-front battle on pesticide liability to Kansas

Hogs