Editorial: A fine balance

Where does one individual’s rights end, and another’s begin? One famous definition runs like this: “The right to swing my arms in any direction ends where your nose begins.” It’s a straightforward common-sense approach that attempts to balance individual liberty with the rights of others. However, it’s also a very simplistic black-or-white view. The reality

“If their current actions result in spread of the ILT, and commercial flocks are affected, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, saying, ‘I am sorry, I guess we should have put down our flock,’ really won’t help.” – Wayne Hiltz, Manitoba Chicken Producers.

Food or pet?

Poultry disease sparks a 
battle of philosophies in 
southeastern Manitoba

A case of the deadly infectious laryngotracheitis virus in a small flock of chickens near Steinbach has put the birds’ owners at odds with the province’s commercial poultry industry. Owner Raelle Schoenrock says she will not be euthanizing her flock of about 50 birds because this goes against the farm’s mission as a sanctuary for



Clubroot affects all cruciferous plants – not just canola (seen here) – which includes brassica oilseeds such as mustard.

Organic farmers don’t get a pass on clubroot

Clubroot can also infect mustard, radish and other brassicas

Organic farmers are mistaken if they think they will be spared from the clubroot infestation making its way across the Prairies because they don’t grow canola, a crops extension specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture says. Brent Flaten warned growers attending the SaskOrganics annual conference March 29 the disease affects all cruciferous plants, and that includes brassica



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Alberta confirms fourth PED outbreak

Alberta took another punch last week in its fight with porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), having confirmed the province’s fourth on-farm case of the disease. Officials with the provincial ag department and Alberta Pork haven’t said where the fourth case is located, nor how far it is from the three southern Alberta properties where outbreaks in


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Alberta confirms third and fourth PED cases

Update, March 4, 2019: The third PED case to which this article refers was announced Monday to be a “false positive.” Click here for details. Alberta, which until January was one of the remaining hog-producing provinces clear of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), is now up to four cases in three months. The provincial agriculture department

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PED not yet done with Alberta

Just when it appeared Alberta’s on-farm outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) may have been a one-off, the province has confirmed a second case. Officials with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry on Friday announced they’ve confirmed and are investigating a new PED outbreak at a 600-head farrow-to-finish hog operation at an unspecified location. “At this time,