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
Canada Could Add $5.4 Billion by Food Processing in the Country Tuesday, September 22, 2026 Canada could add as much as $5.4 billion to its economy and create roughly 34,000 full-time-equivalent jobs by shifting only 10 per cent of its raw crop exports towards domestic value-added processing, according to a new analysis by EY released by Protein Industries Canada. The... Read this article online
Local Food and Farming Drive Community Growth Tuesday, September 22, 2026 The 12th annual Farm and Food Awareness Week has already begun in Manitoba, held from September 20 to 25. The week provides an opportunity for people to learn more about where their food comes from and appreciate the efforts of farmers, producers, and food workers who help bring safe and... Read this article online
Equipment Technician Demand Reaches New Highs Tuesday, September 22, 2026 Canada's agriculture and construction equipment industry is facing a growing shortage of skilled technicians, according to a new report released by industry organizations the Canada Equipment Dealers Association (CEDF)and the Associated Equipment Distributors Foundation (AEDF). The findings... Read this article online
B.C. ag minister won’t seek re-election Tuesday, September 22, 2026 British Columbia’s minister of agriculture won’t run in the next provincial election when the time comes. Lana Popham, the NDP MLA for Saanich South currently in her second tenure as the ag community’s voice in the provincial legislature, made the announcement on Sept. 21. “I am sad to... Read this article online
New herbicide for soybean producers Tuesday, September 22, 2026 Ontario soybean growers will have another tool available to them for the 2027 growing season. BASF launched Zidua Prime herbicide to support burndown and residual weed control applications. The product contains two active ingredients to provide farmers with maximum... Read this article online