A long ride is less stressful Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Shorter truck trips are more stressful to market hogs than longer truck rides, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Animal Science.The reason? Pigs need time to recover from the stress of loading before they get stressed again when they disembark, says Prof. Michael Ellis, at the University of Illinois's Urbana-Champaign campus.Another stress factor is floor space. Overcrowding is stressful, but pigs that have too much space are thrown around as the livestock truck moves. University researchers found that U.S. market pigs on average require five square feet each.Co-author of the study with Ellis was Bradley Wolter, chief operating officer of the Maschhoffs packing company in Carlyle, Ill. Wolter says working with Ellis allowed the company to reduce pig losses due to transportation and handling by more than one percentage point in a system that was already well managed and where less than half a per cent of pigs died because of movement and handling. BP Another sign of bacon's popularity: clogged drains 'Welfarists' pressure supermarkets
Markets Slip as Corn Hits New Lows While Wheat Shows Strength Wednesday, June 17, 2026 On the latest episode of the Ag Commodity Corner+ Podcast titled, Farms.com Risk Management Chief Commodity Strategist Moe Agostino and Commodity Strategist Abhinesh Gopal discussed key developments in global commodity markets in detail. They started the podcast by explaining how corn... Read this article online
Ottawa unveils National Food Security Strategy Wednesday, June 17, 2026 The federal government is looking to support producers and lower grocery costs for Canadians through its National Food Security Strategy. The strategy announced on June 11 commits at least $3 billion over 10 years to address multiple areas of Canada’s food supply chain. Here’s how the... Read this article online
Canadian Food Security Plan Boosts Ag Sector Growth Tuesday, June 16, 2026 The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) has welcomed the federal government’s newly announced National Food Security Strategy, highlighting its renewed commitment to strengthening Canada’s agri-food sector through investments that support competitiveness, affordability, and long-term... Read this article online
Western Farm Weather Alert: Heat, Storms, and Unpredictable El Niño Tuesday, June 16, 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 Tuesday, June 16, 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