A thaw has begun that may soon allow Canadian elk velvet producers to sell to South Korea after being frozen out of the lucrative market for 14 years. Canadian elk officials were asked during a recent trade mission to Korea to sign a memorandum of understanding to work on reopening trade between the two countries. […] Read more
News
South Korea may open door to elk velvet
Building relationship helps retain staff
Good managers need to listen to employees’ problems and concerns
Being told to “leave that crap at home” can sometimes drag it right into the middle of a hog operation, a staff management specialist told the Manitoba Swine Seminar. “If you want to build a relationship with your staff and keep your team motivated, you have to be a sympathetic leader,” said Eric Spell, president […] Read moreBack fat used to gauge feeding, save money
Ontario producer uses the measurement to adjust a sow’s diet after breeding to increase piglet weight gain
RIDGETOWN, Ont. — A young Ontario pork producer credits a back-fat measurement program for impressive numbers at his family’s operation. Graham Learn told the Southwestern Ontario Pork Conference Feb. 18 that sows at Richmar Farms are weighed before breeding and then measured for back fat a week after being bred. The measurement guides the feeding […] Read moreDeere cuts profit forecast with drop in equipment sales
(Reuters) — Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. has posted a 43 percent decline in first quarter profit and cut its full-year profit forecast as lower grain prices and weak farm income weighed on demand for agricultural machinery. The company, which receives nearly two-thirds of its revenue from farm and turf machinery, cut its 2015 […] Read more
Russia may nix wheat export tax
MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) — Russia’s agriculture ministry may review its wheat export tax once it receives export data for February, says agriculture minister Nikolai Fyodorov. The government has been trying to cool domestic wheat prices with informal curbs on exports since December, to which it added an export tax from Feb. 1. Domestic wheat prices […] Read more
Plan to restrict drone use disappoints U.S. farmers
CHICAGO, Ill. (Reuters) — U.S. producers who hope to use drones on their farms are disappointed by what they say are overly restrictive rules proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Two of the long-awaited draft rules were singled out for particular criticism: a requirement that pilots remain in visual contact with their drones at all […] Read more
Cull cows provide more than ground beef for burgers
The United States conducted a cow quality audit in 2007, and recent interviews with packing plants noted some of the same problems are still present:
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Cull cows have achieved record prices in the last few years and are an important part of the entire beef complex. They end up at packing plants, where more than 40 percent of product is marketed as whole muscle cuts, depending on how valuable ground beef might be in the current […] Read moreAG Notes
On-farm intern program available People looking to gain hands-on farming and ranching experience can apply for the FARRMS Intern Program in North Dakota. Canadians are eligible, providing they meet U.S. immigration regulations. The co-operative education program combines hands-on training, classroom learning and farm-based education on family farms in that state. Interns can choose what type […] Read more
Glycol production put on back burner
TABER, Alta. — Plans to diversify Alberta’s sugar beet industry by producing glycol from the crop were slowed this year, partly because of the high cost of research. Alberta Sugar Beet Growers president Rob Boras told a Feb. 18 meeting that the business plan must be re-evaluated. “With our limited resources and the direction that […] Read more
Four children die in farmhouse fire near Kane, Man.
Four children died early this morning in a farmhouse fire near the community of Kane, Man. The parents and three other children escaped the two story home in Manitoba’s Red River Valley, but four children were trapped inside. The children who perished were brothers, Henry, Danny, Timmy and Bobby Froese, aged nine to 15. The […] Read more
