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Better Pork Featured Articles

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


Sidebar: Some quick fatty acids facts

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

  • Fatty acids range in length from two to 22 carbon chains. Some fatty acids are saturated, which means that they lack double bonds in their carbon chain, while others are unsaturated, meaning that they have anywhere from one to six double bonds in their carbon chain. The final carbon atom at one particular end of the carbon chain is called the "omega" carbon.
     
  • Polyunsaturated fatty acids have more than one double bond and are classified according to the location and number of double bonds in their chemical structure. Omega-3 fatty acids have their first double bond at the third carbon atom, while omega-6 fatty acids have theirs at the sixth carbon atom in the chain. The omega-3 fatty acids are linolenic, eicosapentaenoic (EPA), and docosahexaenoic (DHA).
     
  • Flax is the most abundant source of linolenic acid, with canola oil coming in second, while insignificant levels are found in other sources of fats and oils. Fish oils are the only sources of the other two omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA).
     
  • Canada has been the world's leader in the production and export of flax since 1994. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian flax production reached 1.035 million tonnes in 2005-2006. As one of the five major Canadian crops (including wheat, barley, oats and canola), flax is exported mainly to Europe (60 per cent), the United States (30 per cent), Japan (four per cent) and South Korea. BP

Current Issue

June 2025

Better Pork Magazine

Farms.com Swine News

Calf Auction Raises Funds for Youth

Monday, June 30, 2025

Wyatt Westman-Frijters from Milverton won a heifer calf named Ingrid through a World Milk Day promotion by Maplevue Farms and a local Perth, Ontario radio station. Instead of keeping the calf, 22-year-old Westman-Frijters chose to give back to the community. The calf was sent to the... Read this article online

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Cattle Stress Tool May Boost Fertility

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Kansas State University researchers have developed a cool tool that may help reduce cattle stress and improve artificial insemination (AI) results. The idea came from animal science experts Nicholas Wege Dias and Sandy Johnson, who observed that cattle accustomed to their environment... Read this article online

Ontario pasture lands get $5M boost

Friday, June 27, 2025

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $5 million to strengthen shared community grazing pastures. This funding supports the province’s plan to protect Ontario’s agriculture sector and help cattle farmers improve pasture quality, ensuring long-term sustainability and... Read this article online

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