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
October ag minister roundup Monday, October 20, 2025 Farms.com is again scouring social media and online activity to see what Canada’s ministers of agriculture are doing to support farmers and the industry overall. Beginning with federal Minister Heath MacDonald, he and some of his provincial counterparts recently returned from four days of... Read this article online
Out of Feed, Out of Luck: The Real Cost of Feed Delivery Failures in Swine Operations By Casey L. Bradley, Ph.D. – Animistic Monday, October 20, 2025 From Science to the Barn: What We Know About Feed Gaps Whether you’re managing a 2,400-head finishing barn or a 6,000-sow farrow-to-wean, the assumption is that if the bin has feed, the pigs are eating. But what if they’re not? Feed outages—defined as either full-blown empty feeders or... Read this article online
Open Trade Between Canada and the U.S. Key to Agricultural Stability Monday, October 20, 2025 Florian Possberg, a partner with Polar Pork Farms, is emphasizing the importance of maintaining open, two-way agricultural trade across the Canada–U.S. border to ensure ongoing economic stability for North American agriculture. Last month, the Office of the United States Trade... Read this article online
Public Outreach Efforts Strengthen Awareness of Wild Pig Threats in Manitoba Monday, October 20, 2025 Efforts to raise public awareness about the dangers of wild pigs in Manitoba are proving successful, according to Dr. Wayne Lees, Coordinator of Squeal on Pigs Manitoba. Wild pigs pose a significant environmental and agricultural risk—destroying landscapes, competing with native species... Read this article online
Ontario Hog Market Trends (Week Ending Oct. 10, 2025) Monday, October 20, 2025 Compiled by Jaydee Smith, OMAFRA Swine Specialist Ontario hog prices continued to soften heading into mid-October. The 100% Base Formula Price averaged $254.09/ckg, down from $262.21 the previous week — marking the lowest level in five weeks. Despite this dip, prices remain well above... Read this article online