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Better Pork Featured Articles

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


Smithfield moves into gas production

Friday, April 8, 2016

The largest pork-producing company in the world is months away from opening the largest manure-to-energy project of its kind in the United States.

Nine Smithfield Foods farms housing almost two million pigs in Missouri are involved. The US$120 million project, begun in 2014, involves installation of impermeable covers and flare systems on 88 existing lagoons, each capable of holding about 15 million U.S. gallons. The hog manure will produce approximately 2.2 billion cubic feet of pipeline-quality renewable natural gas annually, equal to 17 million gallons of diesel fuel. The equivalent of 850,000 tonnes of CO² will be prevented from entering the atmosphere. Rain will be kept out of the lagoons and odour reduced.

The builders are Missouri-based Roeslein Alternative Energy and ABUTEC (an acronym for Advanced Burner Technologies.), based in Georgia. According to press releases and reports, ABUTEC will install 1.5 megawatt electrical generators to deal with excess methane, letting Smithfield access about US$1 million-worth of carbon credits. Duke Energy in North Carolina will purchase the gas to meet clean energy requirements for power generation. Blake Boxley, Director of Environmental Health and Safety for Smithfield Hog Production, says this project can be replicated across the country.  BP

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Pilot project supports Ontario and Quebec ag

Friday, July 24, 2026

A new two-year pilot project is designed to help livestock farmers in Quebec by giving them access to an Ontario abattoir. The project, a collaboration between the Quebec and Ontario governments, with additional support from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), would see a limited... Read this article online

Canada Opens Interprovincial Alcohol Sales

Thursday, July 23, 2026

A major change to Canada's internal marketplace is set to create new opportunities for wineries, breweries and distilleries after nine provinces signed a landmark agreement allowing direct-to-consumer sales of alcoholic beverages across participating jurisdictions. The deal is being hailed... Read this article online

Bertha Armyworm Hotspots Emerging Across Saskatchewan

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Canola growers across Western Canada are once again being encouraged to keep a close watch for bertha armyworm, one of the most damaging insect pests affecting the crop. While outbreaks do not occur every year, specialists say the pest can quickly move from a minor concern to a major... Read this article online

How One Simple Tool Can Help Protect Crop Quality

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Planning crop harvests requires more than monitoring field conditions—it also means ensuring crop protection products have sufficient time to break down before harvest. Using the correct pre-harvest interval (PHI) helps growers meet residue requirements, protect market access and... Read this article online

B.C. sod farmer looks back on World Cup experience

Thursday, July 23, 2026

A B.C. farmer will hold onto the fact he, and Canadian agriculture, got to play a role during the World Cup. “It was quite exciting to be a part of that, to be a part of Canadian history,” Bert Bos, owner of Bos Sod Farms in Abbotsford, told Farms.com. In February 2025, Bos’s farm... Read this article online

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