Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Pork Featured Articles

Better Pork magazine is published bimonthly. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Behind the Lines - August 2014

Monday, August 4, 2014

Even though the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in March that scientific testing "cannot confirm a link between feed containing blood plasma and porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) cases in Canada," farmers and veterinarians alike remain concerned about the role that blood plasma products play. That is in spite of pressure from plasma makers to put their otherwise beneficial products back into feeds. Senior staff editor Don Stoneman writes about the differing viewpoints in his cover story beginning on page 6.

As David Alves, the Ontario agriculture ministry's manager of veterinary science and policy, noted at the Ontario Pork Congress, "the bigger picture is that (PED) is not ravaging the Ontario industry the way it is in the United States." There, as the Wall Street Journal notes, some large pork-producing systems continue to use plasma products. And Alves gave high marks to feed provider Grand Valley Fortifiers for voluntarily withdrawing those feeds.

Maintaining health is key to pig production and viruses aren't the only threats. Our herd health writer, Ernest Sanford, describes the increase in cases of M. hyosynoviae arthritis, a bacterial infection, in herds, and notes that treatment is difficult.

The other mainstay, of course, is feed. Swine nutritionist Janice Murphy outlines the benefits of fine-tuning dietary fibre in the last weeks before marketing hogs. And in the same vein, Eye On Europe writer Norman Dunn describes a British-designed feeding system that promises "a level of fine-tuning in hog feeding never achieved before." Eye On Europe starts on page 32. BP

ROBERT IRWIN

Current Issue

April 2025

Better Pork Magazine

Farms.com Swine News

What will Liberation Day Bring Regarding Tariffs?

Thursday, March 27, 2025

1. The USDA March Quarterly Grain Stocks Report is set to be released on March 31, tracking inventories of key grains. The most recent report showed corn stocks at 12.074 billion bushels, soybeans at 3.100 billion, and wheat at 1.570 billion. The upcoming release is expected to show... Read this article online

Roquette Canada receives grain dealer license

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

A Manitoba grain handler recently received a license from the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) On March 24, the CGC awarded a grain handler license to Roquette Canada, a leader in plant-based ingredients, in Portage la Prairie, Man. This type of license is for “a person who, for reward,... Read this article online

Addressing the spent fowl situation in Canada

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Mislabeled poultry entering Canada from the United States is having negative effects in Canada. Shipments of spent fowl, which are laying hens that have reached the end of their production cycle and are processed for meat to be used in soups or deli products, are coming over the border... Read this article online

Lynmark Farms named Master Breeder for 2025

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

The Canadian Milking Shorthorn Society has announced that Lynmark Farms has been named as a herd for 2025. Lynmark Farms is owned and operated by Tim Shearer and Irene Vietinghoff of Norwood, Ontario. They are the third Milking Shorthorn herd to be recognized as a since this... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2025 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top