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Better Pork Featured Articles

Better Pork magazine is published bimonthly. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Livestock breeding patent unites German farmers and environmentalists

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

German farmers and environmentalists have something in common for once. Both groups object to a patent being granted on a gene that is linked to rapid growth in pigs. In a rare show of solidarity, 400 of them protested in front of the European Patent Office in Munich in mid-April. Their shared goal – to prevent a patent application for livestock breeding from being granted.

The technique, described in Patent EP 1651777, is not a genetic modification, but a screening process to find and mate pigs that naturally grow fast. Farmers believe that eventually they might have to pay a private company a royalty to produce livestock they have raised themselves. Originally filed in the patent office in 2004 by Monsanto, the patent has since been granted to Newsham Choice Genetics. BP
 

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Winter AGM roundup

Monday, January 5, 2026

It’s early in 2026 and industry groups are preparing for annual general meetings. Here’s a brief roundup of the meetings on the horizon. The Sask Crops Forum on Jan. 13 and 14 at the Western Development Museum at 2610 Lorne Ave. in Saskatoon, will include AGMS for four producer... Read this article online

Ag represented in Order of Canada recipients

Monday, January 5, 2026

A member of Saskatchewan’s ag community is among the 80 newest appointees to the Order of Canada. Governor General Mary Simon appointed Wayne Brownlee, the CFO of PotashCorp who helped the company become Nutrien, to the Order of Canada on New Year’s Eve. The Order of Canada is Canada’s... Read this article online

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