North America’s hog industry is grappling with multiple issues these days, but is presently feeling better than some of the other livestock industries. That doesn’t mean that everything’s great, but not yet having to deal with avian flu infections is keeping hog farmers in a cautiously optimistic mood about their challenges. More World Pork Expo […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
VIDEO: GPS-enabled light strengthens biosecurity
DES MOINES, Iowa — If you look at them, nothing seems new with these red rear lights for hog trailers. Hidden inside is a big difference. This light being launched here at the World Pork Expo today by Farm Health Guardian is a GPS unit that fires off data about the location and actions of […] Read more
Lab-grown meat not seen as threat
WINNIPEG — There was lots of chatter but little fear about “lab meat” at the Animal Nutrition Conference of Canada. While the grown-from-cells form of animal protein has collected an enormous amount of headlines and attention, it has been doing worse with investment capital, according to commodity market analyst Aaron Hanson. For lab meat to […] Read more
Does prioritizing tanks over guerrillas apply to farming?
China isn’t subtle with its threats to invade Taiwan. “China Sends Dozens of Warplanes and Ships Near Taiwan to Show its Anger Over Island’s New Leaders,” is how the Associated Press headlined a story last week. You’d think Taiwan, facing regular threats from China and clear signs that the communist giant intends to take it […] Read more
VIDEO: Myths swirl around livestock sector
If animal nutritionists don’t want to see their industry ravaged by misperceptions and misinformation, they might need to embrace what is an uncomfortable place for most of them, says a leading British nutritionist. If they can’t engage with the public on issues about feed’s and livestock’s effects on climate change and environmental degradation, then the […] Read more
VIDEO: Losing our identity can be difficult
If you pull out the farmer part, is there anything left? That’s a question that plagues the minds of so many farmers and haunts the dark hours of the night if their farm is in some way “failing.” Drought, debt, a crippling injury, a divorce — all these can cause a farm as a business […] Read more
Sustainability demands pressure livestock feed industry
Those attending recent conference were challenged to take micro-nutrient impact, efficiency and waste more seriously
Farmers and the animal nutrition industry need to understand that feeding livestock today requires thinking about what comes out of an animal as much as what goes in, according to many at the Animal Nutrition Conference of Canada. Demands around the world to restrict greenhouse gas and nutrient emissions from all forms of livestock mean […] Read more
Feds bungle announcement of new chief commissioner
It could have been a demonstration of respect for farmers, the celebration of an institution sworn to protect farmers, an acknowledgement that farm reality happens outside the Nepean sandstone walls and marble hallways of the national and provincial capitals. It would have been great to see it announced at a farm conference this winter, or […] Read more
VIDEO: New chief commissioner brings ‘solid understanding’ of the issues facing grain industry
David Hunt, the new Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission, is well known and respected in Manitoba agricultural circles, where he has worked in both the private sector and with Manitoba Agriculture for many years. He’s less well-known west of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border, so I popped by the CGC’s headquarters today to do an […] Read more
VIDEO: Cutting edge livestock feed research
Emily Burton of Nottingham Trent University in the UK discussed “responsible innovation” in an era in which nutritionists are facing expectations that their work can lead to major improvements in greenhouse gas and other emissions from livestock. “The pressure on us . . . is enormous,” she said. Burton urged fellow nutritionists to engage with […] Read more
