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Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Australian GMO feed study found wanting

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Critics were quick to dissect an Australian study that purported to find that feeding GM corn to pigs caused stomach problems.

In a blog published in Ontario, University of Guelph professor Robert Friendship describes the diagnosis of stomach inflammation as "incorrect." The researchers did only a visual appraisal of the stomach linings and "misinterpreted redness to indicate evidence of inflammation. It did not." The researchers did not include an animal pathologist.

Mark Lynas, the former anti-GMO activist, was even more to the point. "This is propaganda dressed up as science, which is why it didn't make a proper peer-reviewed journal." The Journal of Organic Systems, where the study appeared, Lynas writes, publishes once or twice a year and only with research touting the benefits of organic agriculture.

Lynas doubts reporters covering the study's release actually read it. If they had, they would have noticed that the study shows 15 per cent of non-GMO-fed pigs had heart abnormalities while only six per cent of GMO-fed pigs did so. Also, non-GMO-fed pigs were twice as likely to have liver problems.

Lynas notes that the study shows nearly 60 per cent of all the pigs in the study were suffering from pneumonia at the time of slaughter. "No conclusions can be drawn from this study, except for one – that there should be tighter controls on experiments performed on animals by anti-biotech campaigners, for the sake of animal welfare." BF

Current Issue

September 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Festival of Guest Nations returns to Leamington

Friday, September 12, 2025

On Sunday, September 14, 2025, Seacliff Park in Leamington, Ontario, will come alive with music, food, and celebration as the Festival of Guest Nations returns to honour the migrant worker communities who play a vital role in Essex County’s agricultural economy. With more than 20 years... Read this article online

York Region launching new Agri-Food Startup Program

Thursday, September 11, 2025

A new program in York Region is designed to help entrepreneurs find their footing in the food space. The 14-week hybrid Agri-Food Start-up Program partners entrepreneurs with local organizations like the Foodpreneur Lab, Syzl, York Region Food Network, and the Chippewas of Georgina Island... Read this article online

Corn and Soybean Diseases Spread This Season

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

As reported on the OMAFRA website fieldcropnews.com, as well as in previous articles by Farms.com, the 2025 growing season is nearing its end with corn and soybean farmers in Ontario and the U.S. Corn Belt facing disease challenges that reflect changing weather conditions. For corn, two... Read this article online

Wheat Output Decline Projected for 2025

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Statistics Canada’s latest modelled estimates suggest that wheat production in Canada will decline slightly in 2025, driven primarily by weaker yields across several regions. National output is expected to edge down 1.1% to 35.5 million tonnes, with yields forecast to fall 1.2% to 49.6... Read this article online

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