Celine Dion and Bob Marley help Rwandan pigs digest Monday, December 6, 2010 According to Canwest News and Reuters News Service, Edmund Ndizeye, a farm pig herdsman in Urwibutso, Rwanda, plays hip-hop, reggae, rhythm and blues, and even a bit of Canadian Shania Twain's country music to his pigs. He claims rearing pigs with music doubles their yields in terms of offspring, quality of the meat and their weight.They get a diet of soft tunes from Celine Dion and Bob Marley to help them digest after eating restaurant and juice plant leftovers, and aggressive dance tracks later to make the boars more virile.The Urwibutso farm is a wealth re-distribution project in a hungry African country. Farm director Gerard Sina gives away 150 piglets to local families every month. The farm gets back a first-born and the original mother is passed on to another family. The foster family keeps the rest.Half of Rwanda's population of 10 million has trouble meeting its food needs and half of its children are chronically under-nourished. The government has trebled agricultural spending as a percentage of gross domestic product since 2007, and ag sector growth is more than six per cent annually. The government's goal is to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. BP Pig rearing is tops for profit in India Behind the Lines - December 2010
Potato Crusher Helps Farmers Fight Weeds Monday, August 31, 2026 Researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) found a new use for a machine originally designed for potato production. The potato vine crusher, first created to destroy insect pests in potato vines, is now proving effective in reducing weed seeds during harvest. The idea was... Read this article online
Canadian Meat Council Warns of Food Safety Risks Monday, August 31, 2026 The Canadian Meat Council (CMC) has expressed concerns about proposed changes to Canada's food safety regulations that would allow certain provincially inspected meat products to be sold across provincial borders. While the organization supports efforts to reduce barriers to... Read this article online
Boosting Soybean Protein Through Better Nutrition Monday, August 31, 2026 Soybeans areone of the most important crops in the world.Soybeansprovide a major source of plant-based protein for both human consumption and animal feed. As global demand for food continues to grow, researchers are working to find ways to improve the nutritional value of soybean crops... Read this article online
Record El Nino Intensifies as U.S. Heat Wave and Drought Risks Grow Monday, August 31, 2026 As harvest season approaches across much of North America, producers are facing a rapidly evolving weather pattern highlighted by the strongest El Niño event on record. According to from meteorologist Eric Snodgrass, the east-based El Niño continues to strengthen, with Niño Region 3... Read this article online
Wheat Futures Surge as Black Sea Risks Fuel Grain Market Rally Monday, August 31, 2026 Grain markets finished the week of August 28, 2026, on a strong note as wheat futures led a broad rally across agricultural commodities. Traders monitored escalating risks around Black Sea exports, potential changes to U.S. crop estimates, weather concerns across the Midwest, and increased... Read this article online