Editor's note: Listen to Earls' corporate chef Phil Gallagher discuss plans for sourcing Alberta beef here. Earls restaurant chain has changed its mind, announcing it will bring back Canadian beef into its restaurants, although the details on how much and how it will work are unclear. Last week, the company, which opened its first restaurant... Read More
Category: Livestock
It's backwards. Illogical. The federal government's move to enforce an outdated rule that increases the risk of PED virus infecting Western Canadian pig farms doesn't make sense. While hog operations across the U.S. and Eastern Canada have been devastated by PEDv over the last few years, Western Canadian hog farms have managed to stay mostly... Read More
Julaine Treur was on Facebook one day when she stumbled upon a video of a family of dairy farmers. The video described the family's role as stewards of the land, and Treur felt it was absolutely beautiful. She thought most people would share her sentiment. Then she read the comments. "I was horrified," she said.... Read More
As the US dairy industry struggles with low milk prices, a number of trends continue to drive a make over of the country’s dairy farm operations. Overall, the size of farm operations continues to grow rapidly, says Mark Stephenson, University of Wisconsin’s Director of Dairy Policy Analysis. Stephenson told farmers attending the Canadian Dairy XPO... Read More
Dairy farmers have given the thumbs up to the Canadian Dairy XPO’s move to an early April slot on the calendar. The Stratford-based dairy showcase, which for 2016 moved from it’s traditional February dates to April 6 and 7, attracted 14,900 visitors over two days, on par with 2015. CDX attendee surveys indicated that 74%... Read More
Dairy farmers are all too familiar with the external signs of mastitis – from swollen quarters to excessive heat and hardening of the udder wall. At the 2016 Canadian Dairy XPO, Alltech Canada’s Dr. Roger Scaletti performed a tissue analysis of an udder to give producers an inside look at where milk comes from and... Read More
Earls Kitchen + Bar made a "really big" announcement yesterday, when they tweeted their decision to shift to 100% 'Certified Humane' beef. The chain began as a startup in Edmonton, Alberta in 1982, and has since grown to include 66 locations, 59 of which are in Canada. According to the company's site, their traditions have... Read More
Not having to deal with bale twine or wrap would be a dream come true for almost anybody who's ever taken care of livestock. Three chemistry PhD students at Imperial College in London have invented a bale wrap that's not only edible, but could also be used to provide nutrient supplements to animals eating it.... Read More
Dairy farmers who make the switch to robot milkers are very predictable, says Brussels, Ontario farmer Joe Terpstra. When Terpstra and three other dairy producers took to the stage at the 2016 Canadian Dairy XPO to share their experiences with robot milking, all four seemed to be singing from the same songbook. Improved cow health,... Read More
Does a cow need to have a calf to give milk? The answer should be obvious, but more than 70% of consumers get the question wrong explains University of Guelph associate professor Mike Von Massow. A majority of Canadians also believe that a chicken is processed for meat when it reaches four years of age.... Read More