It’s only three years old, but those with the Animal Welfare Approved program believe the group has the best standards for farm animal welfare in North America. It has the support of America’s most famous environmentalist, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “The gold standard for how farm animals should be taken care of,” reads Kennedy’s quote […] Read more
Robert Arnason
Stories by Robert Arnason
Can public policy, science find common ground? – Special Report (story 2)
Academics either shake their heads and laugh or become frustrated when public policy is not based on sound science. John McGlone, professor of animal science and vice-president of research at Texas Tech University, falls into the latter camp when reacting to legislation banning sow gestation stalls. “In spite of people’s best intentions, sow welfare will […] Read more
What’s better for pig is better for pork quality – Special Report (story 3)
The pot belly trailer is the most popular vehicle for transporting hogs in North America, but it is not the best way. About 16,000 pigs die in transport each year in Canada. To reduce deaths and enhance animal welfare, the Prairie Swine Centre in Saskatoon, in collaboration with scientists from across Canada, is studying why […] Read more
Cattle group takes steps to increase age verification
The Manitoba Cattle Producers Association will soon hire a full-time staff member charged with boosting the number of age verified cattle in the province. As well, the new employee will inform producers about the issues of traceability, food safety and biosecurity. “We want to continue to be forward moving and forward thinking and progressive in […] Read more
Post fertilizer prices: farmers
For many years, the fertilizer industry has been a hazy market. Prices at the wholesale and retail level vary from region to region in North America. The price of a particular product at a dealership, such as urea, will also vary depending on who is buying and how much. Would farmers be better off if […] Read more
4-H evolves to appeal to wider demographics
Mention 4-H and an image forms of a teenager holding a ribbon and standing next to a calf at an agricultural fair. That stereotype needs to evolve into a different mental picture, such as a teen pulling weeds at a community garden in suburban Canada, if the youth organization is going to thrive in the […] Read more
Welfare labels come to Canada – Special Report (story 1)
If you’re going to dream, you might as well dream big, which explains Andrew Gunther’s ambitious plans for Animal Welfare Approved, a verification and labelling program for family farms. Gunther, program director of Animal Welfare Approved, believes animal welfare will be as big or bigger than the organic movement by 2025. He envisions a future […] Read more
Raising the bar for animal care – Special Report (About)
Politicians and the public are becoming more interested in animal welfare issues. The trend is generating developments, some benign such as voluntary programs that provide welfare audits, certification and labelling, and others interventionist, such as laws banning gestation crates and poultry battery cages. Western Producer Brandon reporter Robert Arnason examines how meat eaters are influencing […] Read more
Manitoba producers assess winter wheat damage
This year’s long, cold winter was not kind to Manitoba’s winter wheat crop. As of last week, winterkill and flooding had prompted Manitoba producers to send 780 reseeding claims for winter wheat to the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. (MASC), which is five times the number of insurance claims in a typical year. “We had 450 […] Read more
Man. wants COOL compensation
The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce says it’s time for the provincial government to put up or shut up. The association has unanimously passed a resolution asking the province to introduce a cash payment program for Manitoba’s hog farmers to counteract the financial impact of the U.S. country-of-origin labelling legislation. In its resolution, the MCOC notes […] Read more
