'Pocket pigs' pose problems Sunday, February 6, 2011 "Pocket pigs" got a big boost last year in Britain when celebrity guests, including soccer star David Beckham and his glamorous wife Victoria, went home from the Golden Globe movie awards with miniature pot-bellied pigs in their goodie bags. The pigs, which cost £3,000 to buy, were compliments of the owner of Patty's Royal Dandie Miniature Pet Pig. It was a good publicity stunt. By early December British authorities were warning of dangers involved in buying these pigs as pets for children. The pigs can carry and pass on the skin condition erysipeloid and the bacterium Streptococcus suis, which can lead to illness, including meningitis and deafness in humans. The micro pigs have been bred down to size, only 28 grams at birth. They still weigh as much as 29 kilograms and 35 centimetres in height when fully grown. They can live to be 18 years old. BP Manitoba producers sink under an increasing burden of regulation Worldwide hog production shrinks and Smithfield rocks
Western Farm Weather Alert: Heat, Storms, and Unpredictable El Niño Thursday, June 18, 2026 Farmers across the west, in both the United States and Canada could be facing an unpredictable and potentially challenging stretch of weather as summer approaches, according to the latest released June 15 by Nutrien’s Eric Snodgrass. The report points to a developing weather pattern... Read this article online
What Can Canadian Canola Growers Learn from the Decline of Rapeseed Oil in the United Kingdom Thursday, June 18, 2026 The Farms.com team recently attended the Cereals Show in the United Kingdom. This year, the show was held in the Cotswolds at Diddly Squat Farm (owned by Jeremy Clarkson, from Clarkson’s Farms). We were intrigued to learn about the dramatic decline of the rapeseed sector. The United... Read this article online
Manitoba Pork welcomes Canada’s ASF zoning agreement with Japan Thursday, June 18, 2026 Today, the Government of Canada and the Government of Japan announced an agreement on the mutual recognition of containment zones in the event of an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF). ASF is an internationally reportable disease that has devastated swine herds around the world. It is... Read this article online
U.S. Agriculture Leaders Support USMCA Trade Agreement Thursday, June 18, 2026 Members of the House Agriculture Committee voiced strong support for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) during a June 10, 2026, hearing, even as uncertainty surrounds the upcoming July 1, 2026, review of the trade pact. Representatives from farmer organizations and... Read this article online
Ag in the House: June 8 – 12 Thursday, June 18, 2026 During question period on June 8, a Bloc MP wanted answers related to a provision about agriculture placed inside Bill C-30, the Spring Economic Update Implementation Act. Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, the MP for Rimouski—La Matapédia, wanted to know if the government will remove parts of the... Read this article online