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
Sask Wheat Boosts Ag Education in Classrooms Tuesday, July 7, 2026 Agriculture in the ClassroomSaskatchewan AITC SK and the Saskatchewan Wheat Development CommissionSaskWheat have announced a newthree-yearpartnership to improve agriculture education in schools across Saskatchewan. The goal of this partnership is to help students better understand farming,... Read this article online
Grain Markets Rebound as Key Crop Reports Surprise Traders Monday, July 6, 2026 On the weekly Farms.com Risk Management with experts Chief Commodity Strategist Moe Agostino and Commodity Strategist Abhinesh Gopal, the discussion focused on major agricultural developments affecting grain, oilseed, and fertilizer markets. The tile of the July 3 podcast was “?” The... Read this article online
Central Alberta Growers Watch for Seedpod Weevils Monday, July 6, 2026 AlbertaCanolais advising canolagrowers in CentralAlbertatomonitorfields closely for cabbage seedpod weevils (CSPW) as populations continue to expand across the region. Recent observations have shown that the pest is becoming more common in areas where it has not traditionally been a... Read this article online
Farmer named rural development critic in new Poilievre shadow cabinet Monday, July 6, 2026 Another member of Canada’s ag community is represented in Pierre Poilevre’s new Conservative shadow cabinet. Dave Epp, the MP for Chatham-Kent in Ontario and a vegetable and cash crop producer, is the party’s new shadow minister for rural development, the party announced on June... Read this article online
Major Heat Ridge Builds as Record-Pace El Niño Raises New Weather Concerns Monday, July 6, 2026 The past few weeks have already been crazy for agriculture weather wise, with more to come. Nearly 2,000 severe wind reports were recorded across the United States over the past three days, with the most widespread impacts stretching from the central Plains through the Midwest and... Read this article online