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Better Pork Featured Articles

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


Florida ordered to compensate pig farmer

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Florida, the first state to ban sow stalls following a ballot initiative back in 2002, is also the first to be forced by law to compensate a farmer who shut down his operation following the vote.

In midsummer, a state appeals court ruled that the state must pay farmer Stephen Basford more than US$500,000, plus interest, for depriving him of "all economically viable and reasonable use of his business for a public purpose." (Basford sued the state in 2010 for nearly three times that amount.) The U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment prohibits the taking of private property for a public use without just compensation, the so-called "taking clause."

Slightly different bans are in place in eight other states, according to Feedstuffs magazine, and each will have to be tried on its own merits.

Two judges agreed the law took away Basford's right to use improvements to his land, such as barns, a feed mill, an equipment shed, an artificial insemination lab, four water wells and the manure lagoon. A dissenting judge claimed Basford didn't deserve compensation because the sow operation made up only four acres of a 318-acre farm and the "taking clause" didn't apply. BP

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Experiencing ag and culture in Portugal and Spain

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Canadians can experience agriculture and local culture in Europe next year. The Western Stock Growers’ Association (WSGA) has partnered with Leader Tours for an ag and sightseeing tour from Jan. 24 to Feb. 6, 2026. “We’re heading to Spain first,” Lindsye Murfin, executive director of... Read this article online

New Holland IntelliSense Tech Elevates Crop Efficiency

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

The IntelliSense system features a forward-looking sensor mounted at the cab’s center line, allowing the sprayer to assess crop quality up to 50 feet ahead. It operates in two main modes: variable rate application and spot spraying. In variable rate mode, the system uses sunlight... Read this article online

Ag in the House: Sept. 29 – Oct. 3

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

MPs demanded answers about the carbon tax and Russian fertilizer during question periods last week. On Oct. 1, John Barlow, the Alberta Conservative MP for Foothills and the party’s agriculture critic, wanted to know why the government continues to apply carbon taxes to farmers. Prime... Read this article online

New mandate letter for Alberta’s ag minister

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Alberta’s minister of agriculture and irrigation has new directions from Premier Danielle Smith. Minister RJ Sigurdson received a new mandate letter on Oct. 2 laying out multiple items the premier wants him to focus on going forward. “This mandate is about building opportunity and... Read this article online

Electrifying weeds in P.E.I.

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

An electric shock is defined as a sudden discharge of electricity through a part of the body. Now imagine you’re a weed standing in a field, minding your yield-robbing business when suddenly – zap! That’s what’s going on at AAFC’s Harrington Research Farm in P.E.I. as researchers are... Read this article online

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