Behind the Lines - March 2013

Sunday, March 3, 2013

It was nearly 10 years ago that Better Farming first brought readers' attention to concerns about farm animals and the Ontario SPCA. ("The case of the limping boar," November 2003.) Previous to that, farmers might have thought the OSPCA had more to do with care or neglect of pet cats and dogs than with farm livestock.

Much has changed in that decade. The limping boar was about a rare breed animal that was euthanized under unusual circumstances. Since then, societal concerns have been increasingly directed towards mainstream agriculture, with a focus now on culled pigs from commercial swine operations. (See our cover story by Don Stoneman, starting on page 10.)

There is now widespread awareness and concern in the farming community about the powers wielded by the OSPCA, an enforcement body funded largely with charitable contributions that is accountable to its board of directors. On top of that, the Ontario SPCA Act that empowers the OSPCA has been reinforced.

"The Ontario Government revised the OSPCA Act in 2009 to be the strongest animal welfare legislation in the country," a spokesman for the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services wrote recently to Better Farming. "The OSPCA has the authority to enforce any provincial, federal and municipal laws pertaining to the welfare of animals in Ontario."

The spokesman goes on to say that the minister, Madeleine Meilleur, is currently proposing legislation to strengthen governance of the OSPCA.

While researching this story, Stoneman found out that there is a network of federal and provincial agencies responsible for enforcing regulations about animals in transit as well as on the farm.

For example, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has legal authority to inspect provincial plants for compliance with humane transport requirements under the Health of Animals Act, even if they are not federally regulated, says Lisa Murphy, CFIA media relations.  

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs "does not inspect for humane transport, but will refer concerns or instances of animals in distress to CFIA, if we don't happen to be present at the time," Murphy relates.

You have one more chance this year to test your crop knowledge as our ever popular Crop Scene Investigation series winds up for another season. See if you can decipher the mystery of Bill's winter wheat. This month's CSI begins on page 34 and the solution to last month's challenge follows.

Ethanol is one of those topics on which professional farmers and urbanites alike have strong opinions. And, if you grow corn, your future is closely tied to demand for ethanol. We asked Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd. grain merchant Steve Kell to dig around to review the challenges facing grain-based ethanol, which today takes more than 40 per cent of the continent's corn crop. Kell's findings begin on page 26. BF

ROBERT IRWIN & DON STONEMAN