Behind the Lines - April 2011 Sunday, April 3, 2011 When Better Pork staffer Don Stoneman visited Curtiss Littlejohn's high health status farm to photograph his new biosecurity sign, some distance from his barns, the former chair of Ontario Pork told him that was as close as anyone had ever been allowed without changing footwear.Biosecurity isn't new to the pork industry nor is Stoneman new to biosecurity. Back in 1978, when on a student internship at the now defunct Farm & Country magazine, he visited the farm of Doug Macleod at Embro and then talked about high herd health status with veterinarian Dr. Harry Brightwell in Stratford. Showering in and showering out was a relatively new concept then. It isn't now, but biosecurity means different things to different people. Persistent and costly diseases have been proven to be more easily transmissible than previously thought. That's the justification for developing a national biosecurity standard put forward by the Canadian Swine Health Board.Is there a financial benefit for producers to adopt these standards and be certified? The benefit will be in cost savings. Diseases like Atrophic Rhinitis and Mycoplasma Pneumonia that Brightwell told a young Stoneman about are no longer front and centre in Ontario's pork industry. One can hope that the same can one day be written about the recent and current scourges of circovirus and porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome.I hope you will enjoy a different approach to Second Look this month: a perspective from the younger generation.ROBERT IRWIN Moving towards a national biosecurity standard Finding a pork marketing niche
Prairie ag organizations join Global Agriculture Technology Exchange Wednesday, September 18, 2024 Three ag organizations from western Canada have announced their involvement to help position Canada as a world leader in cereal grains. Alberta Grains, the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and the Manitoba Crop Alliance are contributing more than $13 million towards the Global... Read this article online
Alistair MacGregor no longer federal NDP agriculture critic Wednesday, September 18, 2024 tom:11px">The federal NDP has a new agriculture critic. Richard Cannings, the MP for South Okanagan – West Kootenay, is stepping into the role after Alistair MacGregor, the MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, is moving onto different responsibilities. “Big news today, as I have... Read this article online
Where could ag fit in the fall session of Parliament? Tuesday, September 17, 2024 MPs returned to Ottawa this week to begin the fall session of Parliament. With the NDP pulling out of its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals, a federal election could be triggered at any time if a non-confidence vote passes in the House. The carbon tax, cost of living... Read this article online
BASF introduces Surtain herbicide for field corn growers Tuesday, September 17, 2024 Field corn growers in eastern Canada have a new crop protection product available to them. After about 10 years of research and trials, BASF has introduced Surtain, a residual herbicide for corn that combines PPO inhibitor saflufenacil (Group 14) and pyroxasulfone (Group 15) in a premix... Read this article online
Canada rail union launches court challenges to back-to-work order Monday, September 16, 2024 The union representing workers at Canada's two main rail companies said on Friday it had filed court challenges against rulings by the country's industrial labor board that forced them back to work,Reuters reported. On Saturday, the board accepted a request from the government to order... Read this article online