Better Pork

A piece of legislation designed to provide farmers with carbon tax relief passed its third reading in the House of Commons on March 29. In total, 176 MPs voted in favour of Bill C-234, Conservative MP (Huron-Bruce) Ben Lobb’s bill that exempts on-farm fuels like propane and natural gas, used for grain drying and barn heating, from the federal carbon tax. That number is compared to 146 MPs who voted against it. Marie-Claude Bibeau, the federal minister of agriculture, counted as one of the opposing votes. Only three Liberals – Kody Blois, Heath MacDonald and Robert Morrissey – supported the bill. Multiple industry representatives are pleased the bill will now head to the senate for consideration. Keith Currie, the new president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, thanked Lobb “for bringing this bill forward and to all in the house who supported it! Now lets’ get it through the Senate,” he said on Twitter. Thanks @BenLobbMP for bringing this bill forward and to all in the house who supported it! ???????????? Now let's get it through the @SenateCA — Keith Currie (@curb1961) March 29, 2023

A multi-institutional team of scientists is conducting research aimed at replacing antibiotics with probiotic bacteria to combat diarrhea in nursery pigs. In response to public concerns over antibiotic use in livestock production and the potential for antibiotic resistance, scientists with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the University of Manitoba, the University of Guelph and the University of Saskatchewan with funding from Swine Innovation Porc are working to develop viable alternatives to antibiotics to improve pig gut health, targeting Enterotoxigenic E. Coli infection and piglet diarrhea in nursery pigs. Dr. Joshua Gong, a Senior Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says antibiotic resistance threatens public health and food safety. Clip-Dr. Joshua Gong-Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: We are focused on probiotics and enzymes.For the probiotics research we focused on the probiotics selection, development and evaluation.We have identified bacillus isolates that have good potential to reduce pig diarrhea. If those selected probiotics can be used in the production of the piglets, that can reduce the use of antibiotics in feed and promote sustainable production of the pigs.In addition, this project has contributed to the improvement of encapsulation of heat sensitive probiotics.That technology has been adopted by a Canadian company located in Alberta. Dr. Gong notes the probiotic research has generated a number of peer-reviewed publications, results have been presented at various symposiums and the information can also be used by related industries, scientific communities and regulatory agencies.

Do you raise pigs? African swine fever (ASF) is a viral infection that has a very high probability of death for pigs and it is getting closer to North America. In the current issue of Small Farm Canada, the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association gives information on African swine fever and tips on how to keep your herd safe from infection. Management Tip #1 – Never feed any type of meat to your pigs including dog or cat food. This is prohibited by law in Canada. For more information and tips on raising small-lot pigs in Canada subscribehereand get Small Farm Canada delivered straight to your door!

A member of Ontario’s ag community shed some tears when construction on a new barn on her family’s farm finished. “It was around the second week of January when we considered the barn officially open,” Jenn Leadbeter told Farms.com. “When we started to bring the horses in, I cried. They were happy tears, but it was overwhelming.” The new barn has almost 40 stalls, 30 of which are occupied. Walking through the new barn is bittersweet, she said. “We miss the old barn because of what it meant to us,” she said. “But with the new barn we got to design the whole thing. It’s new and it’s great, but we still miss the one we had.” It was around this time last year that Leadbeter’s family lost the old barn. On March 10, 2022, a fire at J & J Farms, which Jenn owns with her husband James in Newburgh, Ont., destroyed the old structure.

A husband-and-wife duo from Rosenort, Man. recently received an industry award. Harley and Brooklynn Siemens, owners and operators of Siemens Farms, a 95,000 layer and 15,000 pullet operation, are Manitoba’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2023. The award recognizes the work of farmers between the ages of 18 and 39. “We were very humbled just to be nominated,” he told Farms.com. “I know so many other young farmers who could have easily won this award, so to be selected as the recipients for 2023 is such an honour.” This award adds to the family’s accomplishments as Harley was chosen as part of the Top four under 40 poultry farmers in Canada in 2021. As part of the Outstanding Young Farmers process, Harley and Brooklynn, as well as the other nominees, Brett and Chantel McRae from Brandon, were tasked to make a presentation showcasing their progress in ag, community involvement and more. The Siemens highlighted the development of their farm, Harley said. “We showed how we’ve grown into one of the largest layer farms in Manitoba. We really leaned on that,” he said. “We also talked about innovation on our farm, building new facilities and having free-run housing for our hens.”

By Bruce Cochrane, Farmscape A partner with Polar Pork Farms says the conflict in Ukraine continues to influence feed grain prices contributing to reduced profitability for pork producers and higher food costs for consumers. High feed costs continue to erode profitability in the agriculture sector and contribute to food inflation. Florian Possberg, a partner with Polar Pork Farms said that while market prices for hogs haven't been terrible, feed costs remain high so this is not a particularly profitable time in the pork sector. “High feed costs seem to have been spurred on by the conflict in the Ukraine, between Russia and the Ukraine. That really threw a wrench into the whole outlook for world cereal supplies. It seems like that is kind of baked into the cake now, so to speak, and although production in the Ukraine is going to be off substantially globally, we'll hopefully get back to better growing conditions in the U.S. and South America will continue to increase their supplies. We are seeing some softening in feed grain costs. It's still historically very high, but it's not as high as it was a year ago so that's positive. The war has had quite an influence and, like I said, after a period of time the market gets used to what's happening so that's what it is,” explained Florian Possberg with Polar Pork Farms. With over 45 years in the pork industry, Possberg is a well-known advocate for the hog industry. Possberg has held positions on the board of Sask Pork, as well as positions with the Canadian Pork Council, and Prairie Swine Centre. Possberg acknowledged food inflation has a real challenge, especially for low-income families. He said that he hopes the food supply generally and the pork supply specifically will be enough that it won't cause significant shortages and that the food inflation softens somewhat.

untington Renée Kohlman loves food. And she wants to share that love with everyone. The award-winning cookbook author and food blogger has been writing a newspaper column in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix for the last decade. But she has recently turned her attention to developing a series of new pork recipes for Sask Pork and its consumer arm, PickPork Saskatchewan. Kohlman is releasing six new recipes this spring that can be found on the Sask Pork website. “There are so many excellent cuts to work with. Barbecued ribs, slow-cooked hams, grilled tenderloin, juicy burgers, quick-fried chops and cutlets, Sunday roasts, pulled pork, spicy tacos, crispy pork belly, and of course, bacon. It’s all so good! Whatever your grocery budget, there's a place for pork in your shopping cart,” enthused Kohlman, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art and a diploma in Culinary Arts. “My mom is a terrific cook, and pork was always on the menu in some capacity. Sunday mornings, the smell of cooked bacon and sausages would rouse me from sleep and I’d stumble into the kitchen, kiss my mom on the cheek, and pluck a juicy sausage from the plate. We ate really well growing up, and living on a farm for the first seven years of my life, I learned early on where food comes from.Some of my earliest memories are running through tall rows of corn, digging up potato plants to unearth the treasures beneath, and sittingon my pet calf, Susie.The connection between farm and fork is something I believe strongly in,” explained Kohlman, who has been cooking and baking professionally for over twenty years. With 147 farms across Saskatchewan raising 2.2 million pigs a year, Kohlman and home chefs across the province have no shortage of options when it coms to pork. “Using local ingredients as much as possible is key to my recipe development, and I’m always trying to source local producers as much as possible. We’re so lucky to live in a province that has excellent quality pork, and it’s been a real treat to develop recipes showcasing its incredible flavour and versatility.” Kohlman’s new recipes for Sask Pork include Pork Cutlets with Lemon Butter Caper Sauce, Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas, Crispy Salt and Pepper Pork Belly, a kid-friendly Ham and Cheese Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole, Baked Gnocchi with Italian Sausage and Ginger Sesame Pork Burgers. “Burgers don’t just have to be about beef! Ground pork makes for excellent burgers, too. It has a rich flavour that works so well with a variety of toppings and add-ins. And, pork burgers are so juicy. Have lots of napkins on hand,” advised Kohlman. Kohlman’s best-selling debut cookbook won Gold at the Taste Canada Awards in 2018 for Best Single Subject Cookbook. her second cookbook, was published in 2021 and was named one of the top 100 Books of 2021 by “I really love layering in different flavours and textures to a recipe. And it’s a wonder that a small thing like a teaspoon of mustard or smoked paprika or maple syrup can have a big imp

By Bruce Cochrane, Farmscape A partner with Polar Pork Farms says a new Saskatchewan based cull sow slaughtering plant will reduce the cost of shipping sows to slaughter, minimize the risk of transmitting disease from one country to the other and avoid the complications that result from border closures. Construction of the new North 49 cull sow slaughtering plant in Moose Jaw by Donald's Fine Foods is nearing completion. Florian Possberg, a partner with Polar Pork Farms, said that anytime you can increase the structure of the industry its good news. ”Currently most of our cull sows are going to the U.S. Some are going to southern Manitoba but obviously having a significant plant in Moose Jaw is really good news for us. It reduces our freight cost to slaughter. More importantly, by taking the border risk out of the equation, there's a lot of diseases where our cull sows go into the U.S. that have the potential to be dragged back on dirty trailers and that sort of stuff so we eliminate a significant disease risk. As well we know that borders can close in a heartbeat and having a plant right here in Saskatchewan greatly reduces border risk as well so there's a number of good reasons why that is good news for us and our industry so we're just anxiously waiting for that plant to be opened. Certainly, anything that can add to the infrastructure for our industry is good news. The fact that Donald's is making a major investment there instills confidence in our industry in general so that's very good,” said Florian Possberg with Polar Pork Farms. With over 45 years in the pork industry, Possberg is a well-known advocate for the hog industry. Possberg has held positions on the board of Sask Pork, as well as positions with the Canadian Pork Council, and Prairie Swine Centre. Possberg suggested that high barn construction costs are limiting growth. He said the cost of replacing facilities built 15 to 20 years ago is probably four times higher and, if we are to maintain a viable industry, at some point we'll have to start replacing older facilities.

An outbreak of Streptococcus equii zooepidemicus in Alberta has demonstrated the difficulty in eliminating the infection from the farm. The Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network swine disease surveillance report for the fourth Quarter of 2022 highlights a case of Streptococcus equii zooepidemicus detected in September on a sow farm in Alberta.The outbreak occurred on a five thousand sow operation and saw high mortality in sows in late September and into October. Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network Manager Dr. Jette Christensen says the operation implemented a control strategy without depopulation but applied treatments while acclimatizing gilts though feedback, without success. Clip-Dr. Jette Christensen-Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network: They've been trying to avoid depopulating the entire premises.That has been unsuccessful.This is a really dramatic disease because it causes sudden death in sows. The report from the practitioner is that from when a sow starts to go off feed and shows a little depression until the sow is dead is less than 12 hours. It's really hard to keep on top of that because, if you're going to cure the sow or get it to survive you have to get in with early treatment. You really have to catch the sows developing the disease within a few hours of the first onset.This farm has experienced over 300 sows dead within the first four months. The feedback we got from them was that exposure under treatment from October to December did fail as a control measure. Dr. Christensen says the experience also showed Strep zoo is a slow-moving disease that seems to require nose to nose contact to spread but, with the high mortality, it's a dramatic disease.

National livestock groups have come together to support Congressional efforts to expand opportunities for industry to invest in meat packing capacity. The American Farm Bureau Federation, American Sheep Industry Association, Livestock Marketing Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council, and United States Cattlemen’s Association sent aletterto the Chairpeople and Ranking Members of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees expressing the groups’ support of legislation to allow livestock market owners and operators to own or invest in small or regional livestock packing facilities. The bipartisan legislation, the Expanding Local Meat Processing Act (S. 813), was reintroduced by Sens. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) last week. This is the Senate companion to the Amplifying Processing of Livestock in the United States (APLUS) Act (H.R.530), being led by U.S. Representatives Mark Alford (R-MO), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), and Dusty Johnson (R-SD). If enacted, these bills would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to update a regulatory prohibition under the Packers and Stockyards Act which bars livestock auction owners from owning or investing in packers. “This is an antiquated rule that does not fit with the current, transparent method of selling livestock at an open auction where sellers can view the transaction either in person or by streaming the auction online,” the letter states. The bills would allow for investment in the packing industry at local and regional levels by those active in the livestock marketing business. “We appreciate our partners, both on Capitol Hill and at fellow livestock groups, fighting for opportunities to enhance participation in livestock packing,” said Mark Barnett, LMA President and owner of Kentucky-Tennessee Livestock Market. “Livestock auction markets, like mine, are in the competition business. Allowing livestock auction owners to invest in small and regional packers could enhance competition which equates to needed additional profit for producers who are being squeezed by high inputs and low margins.” If you have questions about this legislation, please reach out to Chelsea Good, Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs & Legal at cgood@lmaweb.com or 816-305-9540.

e quickly. A single sow can produce more than 400 descendants in three years. Wild, invasive pigs cause more than $90 million in damage to Louisiana farms each year and pose a growing threat to the environment, people and other animals. With $50K in support from the state, LSU is now moving into controlled field trials of a patent-pending bait based on fish, potatoes and, ironically, the key ingredient for bacon. And while the LSU baits are effective on wild pigs, they have next-to-no impact on the environment, break down quickly and won’t harm animals or humans who might be tempted to eat the pigs. Wild pigs are everywhere in Louisiana, rampaging through forests and farms, causing significant damage to crops and creating anproblem. There are now more invasive wild pigs in the state than there are people in the most populous cities of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport combined—close to 1 million. Pigs reproduce quickly. A single sow can produce more than 400 descendants in three years. When food is abundant, like it is in Louisiana, any local wild pig population can double within mere months. “In Louisiana, with our growing seasons, there’s always something to eat,” said Glen Gentry, who is an animal scientist and director and coordinator of two LSU AgCenter research stations, including Idlewild, which specializes in wildlife management.

Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, has given North Carolina four treasures. First, the Staal brothers, Eric, Jordan and Jared, have all suited up for the Carolina Hurricanes, with Eric leading the team to the 2006 Stanley Cup and Jordan captaining the team to a winning season this year. Then there is a veterinarian whose impact on the state of North Carolina certainly stands as the most significant of the four. When one thinks of a typical veterinarian, an image of days spent tending beagles and dachshunds comes to mind. Dr. Glen Almond prefers to spend his days pondering Berkshires and Durocs, and most notably, the professionals who will tend to them. Almond, professor of Swine Health and Production Management at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, has served the state’s pork industry for more than 35 years, providing clear academic pathways for multiple generations of students who desire veterinary careers in food animal agriculture. For his dedication to his students and to the pork industry, Almond is the 2023 recipient of the NC Pork Council’s W.W. Shay Award for Industry Distinction. Almond received his DVM from the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Canada, the oldest veterinary school in North America, before serving as a food animal practitioner in Lethbridge, Alberta. His research has focused on reproductive physiology, urogenital disease and interactions between disease and growth. Recent research includes projects on the use of water medications in pig production and understanding the influence of stress on immunity in pigs. But it is his work as the coordinator of the senior swine medicine course at NC State that has resulted in the greatest impact on the pork production industry in North Carolina and beyond. Since joining the faculty of NC State in 1987 as a graduate research assistant and PhD candidate, Almond has guided the career paths of veterinary students seeking careers in swine medicine, graduating one or two practitioners yearly. He can not only recall every student by name, but he also keeps in close touch with them all, reveling in the success his students have achieved in service to the swine industry. Most remarkably, his mentees provide care to an estimated one-third of the United States’ swine breeding herd, an impact which extends far beyond the borders of North Carolina. “All my graduating students would love to stay in North Carolina,” says Almond. “But realistically not all the jobs are available here. So I tell students to go to the Midwest, make your mistakes there, make some money, and then come back to North Carolina, the best place to be a practicing swine vet.” Almond is no stranger to winning major awards for his service to his profession. In 2020 he received the Howard Dunne Memorial Award from the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. In his acceptance remarks he was very clear about his motivation, noting that it is his personal mission to advocate for swine curriculum and students with swine interests. “Perhaps the most important individuals who contributed to my career are my current and past students,” Almond said at the awards ceremony. “Their success is my success.” Almond, who became a naturalized American citizen in 2018, just turned 70 in February. But retirement has not even crossed his mind. “I am already scouting the undergraduate population of students at NC State to identify the next great swine veterinarians who I might have the honor of mentoring over the next several years,” said Almond. &l

The first round of projects under the Swine Health Information Center’s Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program have been approved and a second call for research proposals has been issued. The 2.3 million dollar Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program, funded by the Swine Health Information Center, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and the Pork Checkoff is designed to develop cost effective ways to improve biosecurity on farm and during transport from the time the pigs enter the nursery to when they reach the packing plant. SHIC Associate Director Dr. Megan Niederwerder says the first 10 projects under the program have been approved, representing approximately one million dollars in funding. Clip-Dr. Megan Niederwerder-Swine Health Information Center: No matter how great we are at sow herd or breeding herd biosecurity, if the PRRS virus continues to replicate and have outbreaks and be maintained in these older pig groups in the wean to harvest phase, that age group will continue to pose a risk for reintroduction of PRRS virus into the sow or breeding farms. If we can increase the wean to harvest biosecurity it will also benefit the sow herd, in that the cycle of production can also be a cycle of how the diseases are maintained in the industry and spread to the various age groups. We think that this focus will not only help the wean to harvest phases but it will also help the sow herd and it will also assist us in reducing the risk of introduction of diseases that we currently do not have. The more biosecurity we have throughout all phases of production, the better we are preventing the disease from being introduced. A second call for proposals under the program has been issued.Dr. Neiderwerder says notes the deadline for submission is April 28 of this year. Information on the Wean to Harvest Biosecurity program is available through the Swine Health Information Center Web site at swinehealth.org.

A new web site being developed by the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases will provide swine producers, veterinarians and researchers a comprehensive resource to help them be prepared in the event Japanese Encephalitis virus makes its way to North America. To help improve U.S. preparedness for Japanese Encephalitis virus, a mosquito borne infection that affects water foul, pigs, people and other species, the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia with support from Swine Health Information Center is planning to launch a new JEV information sharing website. Swine Health Information Center Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg notes a JEV outbreak that emerged in Australia in March 2022 caused an estimated six to 10 percent decrease in that nation's pork production and resulted in six human fatalities. Clip-Dr. Paul Sundberg-Swine Health Information Center: The web site that is being formed now is being supported by the Swine Health Information Center with Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases. They are putting together a web site that will be a one stop shop for anything Japanese Encephalitis virus, epidemiology, diagnostics, vaccination, farm experiences, public health experiences, all about JEV in one spot. We've gone out and surveyed Swine Health Information Center working groups and asked them, those producers, veterinarians, researchers, markets, allied industries, what they would like to see on the JEV information web site and we're putting that all together to make sure this is a comprehensive resource about JEV information with the objective of being able to give immediate outcomes, immediate information and immediate help should JEV get into the U.S. The Swine Health Information Center will announce the launch of the new website once it is complete, expected within a few weeks.

An international research effort is looking at the potential of measuring hormone levels in the hair of pigs to identify genetic lines that will be less affected by stress and more resilient in warding off disease. Researchers with Iowa State University, the Universities of Saskatchewan and Alberta and CDPQ are collaborating on a project under which the levels of three stress hormones in the hair of pigs, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone and cortisone are being measured to evaluate the effect of stress on performance and disease resilience. Dr. Jack Dekkers, a distinguished professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University and the Principal Investigator, explains, by correlating the levels of stress hormones in the hair to growth performance and disease resilience, it should be possible to identify which genetic lines of pigs will be more or less affected by stress. Clip-Dr. Jack Dekkers-Iowa State University: The initial findings are quite promising.One of the things we look at is how heritable are the things we measure because that's what breeding companies are interested in. If a particular thing we're measuring isn't heritable, isn't affected by genetics then it's of no use for them.We find that the level of cortisol in hair is quite heritable. About 25 percent of the differences, we find in cortisol levels in hair at that time point between pigs, are due to genetics and the rest is due to other environmental effects. It's a similar level of heritability as what we get for growth rates typically and we know that breeding companies can very effectively select for growth rate so they will also be able to select fairly effectively for the level of cortisol in blood if that's what leads to a better outcome. Dr. Dekkers expects full results of the study to be available by early 2024 at which point we'll have a good idea of whether this is a good measure to use to select for response to stress and to disease.

PRRS and porcine circovirus have been shown to disrupt thyroid hormone levels leading to reduced growth performance. Researchers with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine have been exploring the effect of disease on thyroid hormone levels in pigs and potential treatment options for the reductions in growth performance caused by fluctuating levels. Dr. John Harding, a professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, explains scientists looked at thyroid hormone levels in sera from salmonella and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae trials conducted by Iowa State University, from a salmonella study by the Prairie Swine Centre, from a PCV2 trial by the University of Nebraska and from Brachyspira trials and a PRRS-mycoplasma coinfection trial by the WCVM. Clip-Dr. John Harding-Western College of Veterinary Medicine: Of those five diseases, we really found solid evidence of a prolonged suppression in thyroid hormone in only the PCV trial and the PRRS-mycoplasma coinfection trial. Interestingly, with mycoplasma alone and with Brachyspira and salmonella, there was no sustained suppression.There was nothing that you could say over a large period of time or a long period of time thyroid hormones were suppressed.So, it's very interesting that this does appear to be an issue specific to PRRS and to circovirus.So, we know there are at least two viruses, PRRS and circovirus that dysregulate the thyroid metabolism, at least transiently for that two-to-three-week period. This helps us to understand why growth rates may be slowed when pigs are infected by these.There is also considerable pig to pig variation in response to PRRS virus so there may be an opportunity to select for more resilient pigs.That would those that have less suppression following infection and they would grow faster. Dr. Harding notes certain thyroid hormone levels have been found to have low to moderate heritability so it is possible to select for resilient animals if there is a desire to do that.

Canada will be exporting more potash to a South Asian country. On March 17, federal Trade Minister Mary Ng announced a contract between Canpotex, a Saskatchewan-based potash supplier, the government of Bangladesh and the Canadian Commercial Corporation. Established in 1946, the Canadian Commercial Corporation is a Crown corporation that supports international trade by helping Canadian exporters access foreign government buyers. Through this contract, the volume of Canadian potash exported to Bangladesh will increase. In 2022, Bangladesh imported about $500 million of Canadian potash. This agreement is a win for all involved, said Mary Ng, Canada’s federal trade minister. “The sale of Canadian potash to Bangladesh, made possible through the hard work of the Canadian Commercial Corporation, shows our commitment to being a reliable partner and quality supplier of agricultural products in the Indo-Pacific region,” she said in a statement. “Canada is a global leader in helping to address challenges in global supply chains, all while promoting Canadian values and protecting good, middle-class Canadian jobs.” Canada has supplied Bangladesh with potash since 1972, totaling more than 907,000 tonnes,

The federal government is investing millions of dollars into an ag export terminal on Canada’s west coast. On March 17, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced $23 million in funding for Global Agriculture Transloading Inc. (GATL) out of Surrey, B.C. ????We’re LIVE in Surrey, BC to announce funding to expand rail capacity at Global Agriculture Trans-Loading and help move agricultural products more efficiently in the region.https://t.co/KWDzWwNxwf — Omar Alghabra (@OmarAlghabra) March 17, 2023 The funding is coming through the National Trade Corridors Fund, which funds projects that improve the flow of goods and people, and trade, in and out of Canada. GATL sits on five acres of land near the CN Thornton Rail yard, the largest rail terminal in Western Canada. It’s also connected to major intermodal terminals and docks including the Sea Port Terminal, Delta port, Fraser Surrey Docks and Port Metro Vancouver docks. With the federal support, the company will purchase: A three-track rail spur &lt

By Haley Bilokraly Farms.com Intern Do you know what difference your cereal crop makes to the Candian economy? Cereals Canada commissioned a report to understand how much of an impact the cereal grains sector has on the Canadian economy. The report was completed by LMC International, an independent economic consulting firm that focuses on agriculture and the agri-business sector. To get a comprehensive and detailed view of the sector, the report analyzed data from four cereal crops: wheat, barley, oats, and durum. As a result of the report, it was found that cereal grain is the second highest industry in terms of economic impact, with a total of $68.8 billion. Cereal grain only follows the oil and gas industry which has a total impact of $128.1 billion. Behind the cereal grain industry for economic impact is communication services ($66.1 billion), beef cattle ($51.6 billion), and canola ($29.9 billion). When diving deeper into the impact that cereal crop has on the Canadian economy, it is further broken down into direct and indirect. Direct impact is any benefit derived straight from the grains value chain. For example, a wheat farmers wage or the effect related to milling oats are direct impacts. Indirect effects are benefits received from industries that supply or are related to the grains sector. Employment from jobs that support barley farmers would be considered an indirect impact. Of the four cereal crops that were analyzed, wheat and barley were overwhelmingly the top contributors to the sector, both directly and indirectly. This is attributed to the vast amount of acreage that these crops account for in Canada and the many commercial bakeries and breweries across the country that rely on the production of wheat and barley. Much of the impact from wheat and barley is associated with Western Canada, as this is mainly where the production of the two crops takes place. However, indirect impacts are likely to be credited with Eastern Canada since this is where the majority of wheat and barley processing happens. Whether you are a grain farmer in Western Canada or a factory worker at a mill in Eastern Canada, it is clear that cereal crops continue to support our families and economy across the country. Next time you’re enjoying a beer from a local brewery or oat milk in your morning coffee, remember the importance of cereal grains in Canada. Watch the video about the report from Cereal Canada.

The third generation of a farm family is up for an industry award in B.C. Travis, Brad and Jenn Hopcott of Hopcott Farms are nominated for the BC Outstanding Young Farmers Award, which recognizes farmers between the ages of 18 and 39. “We’ve been growing and changing a lot, so It’s a nice reminder that you’re keeping up with the industry and making an impact in the community,” Travis told Farms.com. “We were pretty excited when were told about the nomination.” Growth and change has always been a part of the family’s vision for the farm. Fred and Jane Hopcott, Travis’s grandparents, started the operation as a dairy farm in 1932. The dairy barn the couple built in 1934 still stands today. In 1957, the Hopcotts started to transition to a beef operation. This included converting land to corn production to produce silage for the cattle, and selling the cattle to local packing plants. That year is also when Bob, Travis’s father, got involved in the operation. In 1996, the family converted about 70 acres of land into cranberry bogs for Ocean Spray. The family did this to offset the losses of local meat packers.