Bigger and bigger and …

Two years ago March 12, trumpets blasted in Ankeny, Iowa, as America’s new gladiators for agricultural justice — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr., his antitrust chief Christine Varney, U.S. Department of Agriculture boss Tom Vilsack and hundreds of farmers — gathered for a day-long discussion on “competitive dynamics of the seed industry; trends in

Adverse consequences of phenylbutazone

Phenylbutazone, referred to as “bute” amongst horsemen, is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for the short-term relief of pain, inflammation, and fever in horses. It is one of the most common medications administered to horses but indiscriminate use is wrought with adverse consequences. Therefore horse owners must be aware of its appropriate and prudent use.


Super-size surveys show consumer landscape is changing

McDonald’s is an iconic brand which has transcended its all-American heritage to become the world’s most renowned fast-food brand leader. Yet to stay at the top, McDonald’s must change some of the same practices that got it there, says a senior company official. “As the face of Canada truly changes, so does its eating habits,”

Quick-cooking barley puts a modern spin on an ancient grain

Manitoba-made, value-added, hulless barley food product 
offers ease of preparation, convenience and nutritional benefits

Everybody has to eat. On dinner plates around the world, there are three main types of starches: rice, potatoes and pasta. Now, after years of product development, Marvin Nakonechny, the CEO of Edmonton-based Progressive Foods, has an ambitious plan to add his company’s new, fast-cooking hulless barley product to that list. “I just want a


Letters, April 12, 2012

Government should help fund transition Regarding the article, “Time to start thinking about group housing” (March 22, 2012), Bernie Peet is right to alert pork producers to the reality that gestation crates are on the way out. While transitioning to new housing systems, this is an opportune time for producers to improve housing conditions for

World grain prices to stay strong

Reuters / World grain prices should remain “very firm” over the near term as demand from Asia exceeds forecasts and dry weather cuts into supply, the senior economist of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said March 26. South American corn and soy yields took a beating from drought this season, while China’s rapidly


Growing vegetables in the winter

For seven winters, Carol Ford and Chuck Waibel have been supplying weekly boxes of fresh cold-weather vegetables and baby greens to a 12-member CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Under the name “Garden Goddess,” they grow the food in their self-designed 16×22 low-energy northern greenhouse. Inside that deceptively small space is 3,520 cubic feet, with roughly 150

Officials meet to discuss low-level GMO contamination

Government and farm officials are continuing their efforts to bring some clarity to the contentious issue of low-level presence of genetically modified organisms, but it’s not clear how much progress is being made. Officials from exporting and importing countries recently met in Vancouver to discuss how to prevent trade disruptions when trace levels of a


Death knell may sound for Canada’s GMO pigs

Without fresh funding, the animals will be euthanized 
and their genetic material put into cold storage

Pigs that might have become the world’s first genetically modified animals approved for human consumption may instead face an untimely end, as key backers of Canada’s “Enviropig” project withdrew their support for the controversial engineered animal. Scientists at the University of Guelph, 90 km west of Toronto, bred the first GMO pig that was developed

ADM eyes ways to expand reach

Reuters / After passing on Viterra, Archer Daniels Midland is now eyeing acquisitions of smaller assets in North America. “Other than one-off deals, we can’t really grow too much in North America,” said A. James Shafter, the company’s vice-president of mergers and acquisitions. “We’ll always do one-off deals. Elevator assets, transportation assets, if it’s in