No one has to tell University of Guelph agricultural economics master’s student Travis Jansen that farmers like him are well-advised to listen to consumers. But he’s doing more than just listening to them – he’s set to learn from them, too. Jansen, who comes from a family hog farm near Seaforth, knows successful farmers have... Read More
Category: Poultry
My daughter and grandson share the same birthday, August 7. They’re part of a pork-and-grain farming operation near Thamesville. At their birthday celebration on the weekend, our family barbequed pork sausage from their farm on the campfire. There was no reason to doubt the quality of the sausage. We trust the meat packers in nearby... Read More
Nutreco says it has completed its purchase of Hi-Pro Feeds, and along with the acquisition, is moving its North American animal nutrition business under the name Trouw Nutrition. The Dutch company's animal nutrition business operates internationally under the Trouw Nutrition brand, with the exception of North America, where Nutreco also operates as Shur-Gain and Landmark... Read More
Count pastured chicken production as another frontier for automation and robotics in agriculture. With demand for pastured chicken rising rapidly, Manitoba farmer Daniel Badiou, through his startup Ukko Robotics, has started manufacturing automated mobile chicken coops. That's right. They're basically robots for raising chickens outside. "Every day it will move by itself, and it can... Read More
Manitoba's new government is planning to remove what it calls "impractical and costly" regulations to make it easier to build barns and farm buildings and bring the province's farm building code in line with rules in other Western Canadian provinces. Speaking at Keystone Ag Producers' annual meeting in Winnipeg last week, Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler... Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has proposed changes to the rules for the transportation of animals. Discussions about changes to the transport regulations, most of which have been in place since 1977, have been ongoing for a number of years. The draft amendments were finally published in Canada Gazette on December 3 (read the entire... Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has approved camelina meal as an Omega-9-boosting feed ingredient for laying hens. "This is another major step for camelina production in Canada," said Jack Grushcow, founder and CEO of camelina developer Smart Earth Seeds, in a news release on Thursday. "This latest approval makes the crop production economics for camelina... Read More
A lot of angst is simmering in farm circles about the potential for disease to spread between wildlife and domestic livestock, such as poultry. The concerns are warranted, given how quickly disease can race through a herd and create huge losses. But new research from the University of Guelph into the health status of Ontario... Read More
It’s an unusual case. Then again, it was an unusual incident. Most involving attention-seeking animal rights activists are. If you haven’t been following the case of an animal rights activist in Ontario giving water to a pig destined for slaughter, you’ve missed out on something that should shock you back to a changing world, far... Read More
As with other aspects of farming, automation is finding its way into the process of managing mortalities. Dutch Industries, based at Pilot Butte, Saskatchewan, has designed what looks like a big top-heavy green box that it calls the "BioMulcher." The unit heats, grinds and mixes, composting up to 2,500 pounds of material per batch. "After... Read More