Common cattle virus linked to breast cancer in women

A high percentage of women with breast cancer has been exposed to the bovine leukemia virus (BLV)

Researchers with University of California, Berkeley, are exploring a link between a common bovine virus and breast cancer in women. In a study analyzing 239 tissue samples from women diagnosed with breast cancer, scientists found 59 per cent had been exposed to the bovine leukemia virus (BLV) compared to 29 per cent of tissue samples



A milk and ochre paint mixture used 49,000 years ago at Sibudu, South Africa. Researchers used chemical analysis to determine the origins of paint flakes found on ancient stones.

Milk, paint, wild beasts and an ancient African mystery

People were making paint long before previously thought

Around 49,000 years ago, someone in what is today South Africa mixed milk with ochre to produce a paint mixture. What the paint was used for remains unknown. But what is startling is that it was made earlier than the first previously known use of the paint — 47,000 years earlier. The mixture was preserved

Milk, citric acid, salt, rennet, a stainless steel pot and a thermometer are what you need to make your own cheese.

Say ‘cheese’ for a food science experience at home

Prairie Fare: Summer Vegetable Frittata

Mom, I want to learn to make cheese,” my 17-year-old daughter said. “Cheese?” I responded, wanting to be sure I heard her correctly. “I love cheese. I think it would be a good 4-H project,” she replied. She certainly knows how to get my attention and mentoring. I hadn’t made cheese since I taught basic


Canada needs a different tact in international trade

Canada needs a different tact in international trade

Instead of defending supply management it needs to attack competitors’ subsidies

Supply management polarizes opinions: defend the status quo or dismantle the system. Unfortunately, this masks important strategic choices with implications for the dairy industry and, by extension, Canada’s agri-food sector as a whole. Canada’s internal debate keeps the country on a defensive footing. It is time to get offensive by focusing on other countries’ agricultural

milk pouring into a glass

Buy out dairy quota with a retail price premium?

A former Liberal MP and a University of Calgary researcher are calling for an immediate phase-out of quotas

Drop the price of milk to the U.S. level, but then add a temporary premium to compensate dairy farmers for the loss of their quota. That’s the plan proposed in a July 10 Globe and Mail opinion piece by Martha Hall Findlay and Jack Mintz of the School of Public Policy at the University of


man and woman in dairy facility

Bottled-up anticipation for Steinbach couple’s new fresh-from-the-farm milk

A new on-farm milk-processing venture opens new markets to add value to their organically produced milk

Milk sold in glass bottles may be retro — but it is the newest niche in dairy sales. And Manitoba dairy farmers Jim and Angie Appleby aim to fill it. Eager customers started buying 946-ml bottles of milk pasteurized and bottled right on their farm using milk from their Steinbach farm’s organically raised herd of

glass and pitcher of milk

Have you applauded a cow lately?

Prairie Fare: Cheesy Tortilla Mini Pizzas

As I finished my glass of ice-cold milk, I thought about my now 20-year-old son’s comments many years ago. He always has enjoyed milk. When he was a toddler, we would hear his tiny voice saying “want milk” in the early-morning hours. He wanted his milk and cereal pronto. One day, as our toddler gazed


dairy cattle being milked

Milking it: Israel leads the way in dairy tech

China, India, other Asian countries, now look to Israeli expertise

Decades ago Israeli dairy farmers confronted a quandary — how could they provide milk to a fast-growing population in a country that is two-thirds desert, with little grazing land? They turned to technology, developing equipment that boosted output — from cooling systems to milk meters and biometrics — and have made Israeli cows the most

milk sample vials in a laboratory

New tests for dairy producers offered at Horizon Lab

Dust can settle in vials after cleaning and before testing, so make sure to double-check your containers

Manitoba dairy producers will no longer have to make phone calls to figure out why their milk samples weren’t tested. In the past, producers who didn’t see their results would have to call Horizon Lab in Winnipeg to figure out what went wrong. Now, affected producers will be automatically emailed whenever a sample can’t be