Canada pushing Japan to take older Canuck beef

Efforts to get Japan to reopen its borders to Canadian beef less than 30 months of age “are proceeding well,” says Pierre Lemieux. “They are assuring us that progress is being made, that work is underway and there is certainly a good spirit of willingness and co-operation,” said Lemieux, parliamentary secretary to the minister of

Duck harvest coming later in fall

Anew study has confirmed what veteran duck hunters have long suspected — hunting season is significantly later in the year these days than it was decades ago. Delta Waterfowl science director Frank Rohwer looked at migration dates by examining data from the annual Parts Collection Survey that has gathered comprehensive harvest data from hunters since



Food strategy missing from ag committee report

The Commons agriculture committee is backing calls for a national food strategy, but says there’s not time to develop one before the launch of the Growing Forward Two program next April. “It’s really a different issue from Growing Forward, which is a slate of programs to help farmers,” said Tory MP Larry Miller, the committee’s


McDonald’s to end sow stalls in 10 years

Reuters / McDonald’s said May 31 that by 2022 it will only buy pork from farmers and other sources that do not use gestation stalls for housing their pregnant sows. In the shorter term, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based fast-food giant said that it would work with producers and suppliers to develop traceability systems to prove that

Agricultural research funds escape austerity cuts

Reuters / Public spending on agricultural research is on the rise, despite austerity drives in many countries, as price spikes and problems linked with climate change propel food security towards the top of government agendas, the head of a leading research body said. “People have realized that feeding the world without destroying the environment is


4-H members celebrate by helping others

4-H clubs from across Canada are celebrating the organization’s 100th annivesary with a special partnership with Food Banks Canada. Clubs will provide support to local food banks through collection and delivery of food products as well as generating monetary donations, 4-H Canada announced May 28 at an event at the Manitoba legislature. The organization got

Telling your story

Cultures in which it is customary to eat pretty much everything but the moo from meat animals must be scratching their heads over North America’s squeamishness over so-called “pink slime” beef. Lean finely textured beef, as the industry calls it, has never been sold in Canada. Health Canada considers the ammonia treatment the product undergoes


Farmers urged to tell their story but keep it real

Ordinary farmers could help polish the livestock industry’s image 
by posting matter-of-fact video clips on popular Internet site

Corrected, June 8, 2012 — Livestock producers should seize the power of YouTube to counter the influence of animal rights activists. But ditch the PR and keep it real. That was the advice of renowned animal welfare expert Temple Grandin delivered at a sold-out presentation here last week. “When YouTube first started, about two or

Enthusiastic crowd greets Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin says her struggles with autism gave her the ability to see the world as animals do and that allowed her to create new animal-handling procedures that earned her international renown. But in a speech to a packed house of more than 700 here recently, Grandin not only demonstrated a keen understanding of how