When Alison Kumpula talked to classmates at her Edmonton high school about BSE, she found many of them asking “isn’t it over?” “They had no understanding of how devastating the past 16 months have been for beef producers,” she said. “That really concerned me. If my own peers don’t even understand what’s happening to beef […] Read more
Stories by Donna Rehirchuk
Weaned foals can avoid stress
It’s time to wean foals and the simultaneous loss of mother and milk can be stressful on the young animals. “At that age they are just starting to develop their own immunity and the immunity they got from their mother’s colostrum is wearing off,” said Claire Card at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in […] Read more
Sheep producers take action – with knives
VANSCOY, Sask. – More lamb producers are learning how to process their own meat to sell closer to home since sheep have been caught up in the BSE border ban shutting them out of the U.S. market. “Right away it (BSE) was a great hardship to us. Before the closure, lamb sold at $1.26 a […] Read more
Research parks stir economy
The tenants of Saskatchewan’s two research parks added $444 million to the provincial economy in 2003, says Austin Beggs, Innovation Place director of marketing and corporate development. The figure, which translates to more than one percent of the province’s gross domestic product, is based on staff payroll and local purchases of goods and services. In […] Read more
Family adds spices to the farm
GILBERT PLAINS, Man. – Variety is the spice of life and spice is the variety in Murray Stoughton’s crop rotation. The Gilbert Plains farmer has grown caraway and coriander, but this year he tried something new with dill. “These spices have a steep learning curve. They’re not for the faint at heart,” he said. “Don’t […] Read more
Power company commits to hog manure project
A $1.3 million project that turns manure into electricity at a Cudworth, Sask., hog farm is now generating power and a second phase that will produce fertilizer is on deck for 2005. “It went smoother than we expected, which was great, and that’s certainly in part due to the company we work with in Germany,” […] Read more
Consumers’ food choices swayed by romantic beliefs
New age consumers attempting to stay trim, safe and spiritual in a fast food society have their work cut out for them. That was the message from Toby Ten Eyck of the department of sociology and national food safety and toxicology centre at Michigan State University during the Western Nutrition conference in Saskatoon Sept. 30. […] Read more
Food concerns focus on personal risk, benefits
Concerns over genetically modified food tap into more than food safety issues, says Michael Mehta, director of the sociology of biotechnology program at the University of Saskatchewan. Mehta conducted a study in Kingston, Ont., in 2000 to determine how the public perceives food risk. Five hundred and thirty eight people were asked to assess their […] Read more
Mystery in the fields
The worldwide phenomenon known as crop circles rarely crossed Deldean Burton’s mind until her husband Francis found one while harvesting his barley field three kilometres northwest of Humboldt, Sask. “You hear about it but don’t think a whole lot about it. It crosses your mind but it goes away. This one’s not going away,” said […] Read more
BSE tests crucial to risk status: CFIA
If all 38,000 animals that Canada plans to sample for BSE by the end of 2005 were to test negative, it would put Canada into a low-risk category. A BSE rate of less than one case per million adult animals matches guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health, also known as the OIE, for […] Read more