Beef producers say new transportation regulations may actually harm animal welfare. 

Beef industry blasts new transport regs, but pork and chicken say OK

New regulations have shortened trips between rest stops and expanded the definition of ‘unfit’ or ‘compromised’ animals among other changes, but not everyone in the livestock sector is impressed

Animals will have less time between stops under new federal transportation rules, but the cattle industry says the changes may actually miss the mark on animal welfare. Both the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Manitoba Beef Producers have accused the federal government of ignoring its own research and argue that the overwhelming majority of cattle arrive

Their Blackbelly sheep have horns much like the bighorn sheep in the Rockies.

Small, ethically run farm raises rabbits and sheep

Owners of Seven Bells Fold feel it’s their duty to treat animals with kindness and respect

Seven Bells Fold (SBF) is the name of the farm owned by Bonny McKay and Dale Lucey, located just off PR No. 470, between Onanole and Sandy Lake. The name came about from the fact that both sets of McKay’s grandparents were fishers or seafarers on Canada’s East Coast and in order to operate 24


If an animal becomes injured for some reason, in most cases they still have value – but there is also a need to end suffering as quickly as possible.

How to make the best of a bad situation

Beef 911: If you plan ahead, you can still get good value for an animal that suddenly needs to be put down

All producers run into the need for emergency slaughter of their livestock from time to time. With a co-ordinated effort between producers, abattoirs, and veterinarians we can realize good value and prevent the waste of good meat protein. It is important to preplan the chain of events that would happen in the event of emergency

Maple Leaf Foods says it is over half done its conversions to open sow housing.

Maple Leaf pulls ahead on open sow housing

Gestation crates will be a thing of the past at Maple Leaf Foods as of 2021, three years ahead of the National Farm Animal Care Council’s deadline

Maple Leaf Foods now expects to complete its shift to open sow housing with years to spare. The company is more than halfway completed its transition, according to Dr. Greg Douglas, vice-president of animal care. About 40,000 of the company’s 70,000 sows are currently managed under the advanced open-housing system, and the company expects to


A farm in Switzerland. (Funky-data/iStock/Getty Images)

Swiss government urges voters to reject more state help for farmers

Zurich | Reuters — The Swiss government urged voters on Tuesday to reject more help for farmers and other proposals for agriculture in a referendum next month, saying they would send food prices rocketing and hurt the economy. Switzerland will two hold referendums on Sept. 23 — one on giving more state support to farmers

A man works at a machine that prepares chicken eggs for hatching at the Huayu hatchery in Handan, Hebei province, China, June 25, 2018.

A billion eggs a day

How China will transform its poultry sector in the coming years

Behind a row of sealed red incubator doors in a new facility in northern China, about 400,000 chicks are hatched every day, part of the rapidly modernizing supply chain in China’s US$37-billion egg industry, the world’s biggest. As China overhauls production of everything from pork to milk and vegetables, farmers raising hens for eggs are


Opinion: Can lab-grown meat feed — and save — the world?

The true ‘yuck’ factor may be the modern face of meat production

We always think of Winston Churchill facing history-altering decisions at a turning point in the Second World War. In fact, Churchill had been thinking about the future of humanity in rather radical ways for years already. In 1931, Churchill published an essay, Fifty Years Hence, in which he made predictions about what the world might

Improper bear baiting is bringing the predators into contact with livestock, leading to losses, producers say.

Producers push for tighter bear-baiting rules

Riding Mountain producer Teren Garlinski says baiting bears on Crown lands has contributed to his herd losses, 
and he wants something done

Beef producer Teren Garlinski wants to see a halt to bear baiting on Crown lands, or at least have meat taken out of the equation. Garlinski, who farms southwest of Grandview near the border of Riding Mountain National Park, says predation is a serious concern on his operation and claims bear baiting contributes to the


(iStock photo)

Talk to family, friends about farming

This holiday season Melodie Chan wants producers to avoid what she calls the “spiral of silence,” which can happen around the dinner table, over beers or even in the gentle lull between turkey and pie if farmers don’t speak up when they hear misinformation about agriculture. “What are we afraid of?” asked Chan, speaking at

When the temperature soars, feedlot cattle can suffer

Beef 911: Charges that beta-agonists caused severe lameness prompted a study that found an entirely different cause

A few years ago cattle in an American feedlot went down during transport to a packing plant and others developed severe lameness. This condition was eventually labelled fatigue cattle syndrome and became a huge animal welfare issue due to the appearance of severely lame, non-ambulatory cattle. Initially beta-agonists were incriminated but numerous studies have essentially