'Pocket pigs' pose problems Sunday, February 6, 2011 "Pocket pigs" got a big boost last year in Britain when celebrity guests, including soccer star David Beckham and his glamorous wife Victoria, went home from the Golden Globe movie awards with miniature pot-bellied pigs in their goodie bags. The pigs, which cost £3,000 to buy, were compliments of the owner of Patty's Royal Dandie Miniature Pet Pig. It was a good publicity stunt. By early December British authorities were warning of dangers involved in buying these pigs as pets for children. The pigs can carry and pass on the skin condition erysipeloid and the bacterium Streptococcus suis, which can lead to illness, including meningitis and deafness in humans. The micro pigs have been bred down to size, only 28 grams at birth. They still weigh as much as 29 kilograms and 35 centimetres in height when fully grown. They can live to be 18 years old. BP Manitoba producers sink under an increasing burden of regulation Worldwide hog production shrinks and Smithfield rocks
CUSMA Review Raises Concerns Over Potential U.S. Tariffs on Canadian Pork Thursday, December 11, 2025 As the first formal review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) approaches in July, pork producers across North America are bracing for potential impacts—especially the possibility of new U.S. tariffs on Canadian agriculture. Florian Possberg, Partner at Polar Pork Farms,... Read this article online
New restrictions placed on hunting, farming 'incredibly destructive' wild boars in Alberta Thursday, December 11, 2025 Wild boars have been declared "a pest in all circumstances" by the Alberta government effective Dec. 1, meaning new restrictions have been placed on keeping them in captivity and hunting them in the wild. It is now illegal to keep, buy, sell, obtain or transport wild boars in Alberta... Read this article online
Ontario Animal Health Network (OAHN) Swine Network Quarterly Industry Report Thursday, December 11, 2025 Starting in 2015, Senecavirus A (SVA) has caused intermittent complications with respect to the export of Canadian cull animals to the United States. This disease resembles reportable swine vesicular diseases. This is a national issue and since June 2025 has impacted Ontario cull sow... Read this article online
Ag in the House: Dec. 1 – 5 Thursday, December 11, 2025 While government and opposition MPs sparred over the carbon tax multiple times last week, a direct mention of agriculture first came on Dec. 4. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre highlighted findings in Dalhousie University’s food price report for 2026, which indicates food prices are... Read this article online
Smokin’ weeds Thursday, December 11, 2025 With American families facing high food prices and farmers burdened by rising operating costs, weed pressure has become an even more costly threat to US food production. Resistant weeds continue to spread, increasing spray complexity and forcing many farms to spend significantly more on... Read this article online