Genetics: Genetic markers help build a better pig faster

With DNA markers, researchers can greatly improve the accuracy of selecting for specific traits, such as meat quality, disease resistance and robustness of the animal

by SERGE POMMIER

When people ask me about the importance of genetic markers, they often bring up the halothane gene. Would greater focus on developing genetic markers help us discover more of these revolutionary genes? Would these markers transform genetic development and help us develop a super pig, one with improved meat quality, robustness, feed conversion and disease resistance?

Ont. gov’t invests in rural broadband

May 22, 2019

The provincial government is helping Norfolk County residents access more reliable broadband. Today, Infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton announced the government is investing up to $63.7 to Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT), to help the residents and business owners of Norfolk County join the digital economy. “I’ve heard too many stories about parents sitting in fast-food restaurant parking lots or going to the local library to get Wi-Fi for their kids’ homework,” he said in a statement. “We want rural residents and businesses to be able to... read more

Mushroom farm fined $75K for worker injury

May 17, 2019

Highline Produce Ltd. has been convicted of failing to “take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker at a workplace,' a court bulletin says. On May 15, 2018, a farm worker at the company’s Leamington, Ont. mushroom farm was caught in a moving cable and sustained a “critical injury.” The conviction came yesterday in a Leamington courtroom. The injured employee was working in a grow room, using a hydraulic net winch to pull netting across the mushroom beds and fill them with compost. While guiding two hydraulic winch cables into... read more

You can still apply nitrogen

May 16, 2019

It’s been a very wet spring in Ontario and wheat farmers are having challenges with spring fieldwork. One item of major concern is fertilizer applications. Nitrogen and sulphur applications are delayed by wet conditions and some farmers are reportedly seeing flag leaves emerge without having put their fertilizer down. Producers still have a chance to save the crop, though, Steph Kowalski, agronomy lead with The Agromart Group, told Farms.com. “The simple answer to ‘What do I do?’ is that you’ll usually get a yield response until the full flag leaf emerges,... read more

Ont. producers waiting to plant

May 14, 2019

Ontario cash crop farmers are still waiting for Mother Nature to give them a consistent planting window. Cool temperatures and consecutive days of rain have led to soggy fields and idle planters. For some farmers, spring 2019 is one of the wettest they can remember. “We spread some manure but it was getting packed too much so we had to quit, and we have no corn planted right now,” Gord Masters, a farmer from Kawartha Lakes, Ont., told Farms.com. “We have a book that we write down the dates we start, and last year on May 9 we had planted over 300 acres of corn. The... read more

Cdn. genetics companies wait for export licenses

May 10, 2019

China hasn’t renewed export licenses for two Canadian livestock genetics companies. Alta Genetics in Balzac, Alta. and Semex in Guelph, Ont. are waiting for Chinese confirmation that they can resume exports to China. China represents a significant market for Canadian livestock genetics. Canada exported $3.1 million of beef cattle semen, $6.5 million of dairy semen and almost $800,000 of bovine embryos to China in 2017. China was the top market for beef semen and the fourth-largest market for both the dairy semen and bovine embryos, stats from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada show.... read more

Genetics: Genetic markers help build a better pig faster

Better Pork - February 2009