Gerbert Oosterlaken standing in a production facility.

Dutch farmer finds animal health and welfare go hand in hand

Gerbert Oosterlaken wants animal welfare advocates on his side instead of the opposition

Some have described the Netherlands as a living laboratory for sustainable intensive livestock production. With 16.7 million people living with 11 million hogs, 80 million chickens and 400,000 cows in an area that is one-fifteenth the size of Manitoba, it is impossible for the animal industry to operate below the public’s radar. Growing public distaste




The crisis deepens in the West Australian wheat lands

One economist says that if rural Australia were a member country of the euro zone, 
international financial markets would be refusing to finance the sector

The closer West Australian farmers get to seeding time, which is any time after the end of April, the more intense the debate becomes whether the eastern Wheat Belt will ever be the same again. Now there are reports of farmers abandoning their land and walking off. Enough is enough for some. The old men



Slaughterhouse incorporates anaerobic digester

Most of Kenya’s cattle are produced by members of the Maasai tribe, who are traditional nomadic herdsmen. In 1981, a group of Maasai families formed an association and established the Keekonyokie livestock market and slaughterhouse in Kiserian, an hour southwest of Nairobi. The market allows them to earn more by selling directly to customers, and

Step by step, Kenyan farmers are improving their lot

The farms seem impossibly small and the challenges overwhelmingly huge, but Kenyans are 
creating marketing chains, improving productivity and even doing value added

Kenya’s story is a familiar one in African agriculture: Small farms, a great need for more production, and yet a high amount of post-harvest waste — often because farmers simply can’t get their product to market. But things are changing. “Kenyans need to do it themselves,” says Rien Geuze, agribusiness adviser for Agriterra, a Dutch

Thank you for 30 years!

April 13, 2013 marked the 30th anniversary of the founding of Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB). Throughout this year, we wish to celebrate and thank the many people and organizations that have created, built and supported the CFGB over the years — the early visionaries, the practical people who worked out the mechanics, the many farmers


China set for record corn imports on crop damage

Reuters / China is likely to import a record volume of corn in the next marketing year, as the world’s second-largest consumer takes advantage of a fall in global prices and after the domestic crop suffered damage from mould and wet weather delayed plantings. Imports are expected to reach between six million and seven million

Kazakhstan farmers reap benefits of conservation tillage

Farmers using zero till reported yields of two tons per hectare while some farmers 
using conventional practices lost their entire crop

Kazakhstan’s 2012 drought and high temperatures cut the country’s wheat harvests by more than half from 2011 output, but wheat under zero-tillage practices gave up to three times more grain than conventionally cultivated crops. Two million hectares are currently under zero tillage, making Kazakhstan one of the top 10 countries for conservation agriculture and helping