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Tag Archives animal welfare

Commodity groups and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture are looking for clarity from the province on Animal Protection Zone signage.
Livestock, News

Clarity sought on Animal Protection Zone protocols

Livestock commodity associations and OFA working with government to clear up any confusion

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Livestock producers are lighting up social media with confusion around Bill 156 Animal Protection Zone (APZ) signage protocols. A Facebook farming page thread with more than 100 entries discussed and questioned where signage was required, what signs looked like and if signage provided before the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act (formerly called […] Read more
Andy Jakubowski, told the Banff Pork Seminar that pigs piling when they were cold told them they had a ventilation problem.
Livestock

Cameras tell the story of animal behaviour

A hog farm finds much can be learned when employees aren’t in a barn

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Reading Time: 2 minutes When looking for answers to problems with barn operations, make sure to ask the pigs. Pillen Family Farms was trying to figure out why its new nursery barns weren’t performing as well as some old ones, so they turned to video cameras as a way to better understand the behaviour of pigs when workers weren’t […] Read more
A professor from the University of British Columbia says social licence to continue raising food animals depends on the industry’s ability to keep in step with community values.
News

Education campaigns about agriculture have drawbacks: professor

Engaging the public about animal agriculture’s vision is called a better option than abruptly pulling back the curtain

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Engaging the public rather than trying to educate the public could be the best path to ensure continued trust in animal agriculture. Marina von Keyserlingk, a professor in animal welfare at the University of British Columbia, said she has given a lot of thought about the future of animal agriculture and the […] Read more
Early results indicate lower chick mortality when hatched on the farm, as well as better average daily gain of the chicks.
Livestock, News

On-farm hatching may benefit bird welfare

A poultry company is studying the logistics and benefits of bringing the eggs to the farm and hatching them there

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Hatching chicks on the farms where they are raised, rather than in a hatchery for later shipment to the farm, might improve bird welfare and performance. Groupe Westco, a New Brunswick poultry company, has undertaken research on the subject, with full results expected in 2021. Why it matters: Concerns about chick mortality […] Read more
News

Ontario’s Trespass Act Bill 156 comes into force

Hardeman hits goal of bringing Bill 156 into force earlier than expected

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Reading Time: 4 minutes The Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act (STPFSA), formerly Bill 156, will come into force at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 5 (read the Act on the Ontario government website). “The protection in the act will help to improve working conditions for farmers, farm families and Agri-food sector employees,” said Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, […] Read more
Mariia Tokareva walks behind a sow that has been let out of a stall as part of a University of Saskatchewan experiment.
Livestock

Sow exercise benefits found lacking

Researchers wanted to know if a middle ground solution between stalls and open housing was a reasonable option

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Pregnant sows have an intrinsic desire to leave their stalls, say swine health experts at the University of Saskatchewan. But giving sows periodic freedom to leave stalls and move about the barn doesn’t significantly improve the lives or welfare of the animals. Why it matters: Animal welfare is a key concern for […] Read more
News

Group sow housing deadline could be pushed back

The National Farm Animal Council has recommended a new 2029 deadline

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Pig producers in Canada may have another nine years to convert their barns to group sow housing. A report from the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) on the codes of practice for raising pigs in Canada has recommended pushing back the deadline from 2024 to 2029. A five-year review of the […] Read more
Livestock, Machinery

Animal welfare activist dies outside Ontario pork plant

Protestor reportedly hit by transport truck

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Reading Time: 2 minutes An animal welfare activist has died while attending what’s been described as a “vigil” outside a southern Ontario hog packing plant, as new provincial limits on such activity around livestock are set to take effect. Halton Regional Police Service reported receiving a call Friday morning that a person had been “struck by a transport truck” […] Read more
Dairy farms have been the target of activist trespassers.
Livestock, News

Ontario bill restricting barn trespassing approved

Bill 156 increases fines for trespassing into animal production zones

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Reading Time: < 1 minute A bill that increases fines for trespassing onto areas of farms where animals are housed has passed the Ontario legislature. Bill 156 was passed by the legislature June 17. It  also prohibits obtaining employment at a farm under false pretences. Why it matters: There has been an increase in high profile farm invasions by protesters […] Read more
Livestock

Ontario offers cash for abattoir upgrades

Applications now being accepted through April

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s 123 provincially-licensed abattoirs can now start applying for a piece of $2 million in federal/provincial funding to step up food safety, biosecurity and animal welfare measures. The Ontario and federal governments on Wednesday announced applications for cost-share funding can be submitted between now and April 30, “as long as funding for the initiative is […] Read more

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