Mathieu Larose of Ferme Laroselait in Verchères shows the mechanism for lowering and raising the baffles. All that's missing is the drill to operate the mechanism.

Managing cross ventilation with the right baffles

Adding baffles meant removal of two large cross ventilation fans at this farm

After a summer in their new barn with cross ventilation, Mathieu Larose and Nancy Clouâtre of Ferme Laroselait in Verchères installed canvass baffles in 2020 to force air down onto the cows in the stalls and cool them in the summer. According to Larose, it’s a must-have for cross ventilated barns. Why it matters: Ventilation […] Read more

File photo of a desk in Canada’s Senate. (Dougall_Photography/iStock/Getty Images)

Internal dispute over privilege, bullying allegations ties up C-234

New amendment to farm fuel bill now under debate

A proposed amendment, and a dispute over senatorial behaviour, further geared down progress Tuesday of a federal private member’s bill to carve out a carbon tax exemption for grain drying and heating of barns and greenhouses. Bill C-234, which passed the House of Commons in late March, remained on the Senate’s order paper for debate […] Read more


The FeedFlo feed sensor is working in scores of barns in the U.S. hog belt, where it accurately measures whether feed is flowing to pens in the barn and notifies producers if something goes wrong at the bin, in the pipes or with the pigs themselves.

Tech simplifies hog feed monitoring to reduce down time

FeedFlo system monitors feed pipes to ensure feed is flowing

Glacier FarmMedia – Successful technology often arises from figuring out how to simplify something that’s exceedingly complex. That’s what Casey Forsyth and his team at FeedFlo think they’ve managed to do with their feed pipe monitoring system. Their model is working in scores of barns in the U.S. hog belt, where it accurately measures whether […] Read more

Farm Health Guardian’s Protocol facial recognition controlled barn entry system being shown to attendees at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show.

Ontario company launches facial recognition for barns

The system will prevent entry by workers or suppliers who shouldn’t be in the barn

An award-winning Canadian tech start-up that enables livestock producers to protect against entry by disease-risky vehicles has launched a new service to do the same for human visitors. Protocol is billed by Guelph-based Farm Health Guardian as a “system us(ing) facial recognition technology to proactively control livestock and poultry barn entry points, enabling farm managers […] Read more

Conservative agriculture critic John Barlow speaks Nov. 24, 2021 in the House of Commons. (Screengrab from supplied video)

Anti-activist bill back before Commons committee

Bill adds protections for biosecurity, farmers' mental health, Barlow says

A bill to create harsher penalties for unlawful entry onto farms and biosecure zones is back before the House of Commons after a previous iteration died on the order table in 2021. Conservative MP John Barlow brought forward Bill C-275, “an Act to amend the Health of Animals Act (biosecurity on farms),” as a private […] Read more


The Ontario Swine Research Centre designed with future in mind.

New pork research barn called a ‘game changer’

Biosecurity, efficiency and sector regulations motivated design

A new $20-million facility is expected to make Ontario a leader in cutting-edge swine research. “Our industry is poised to undergo significant transformations driven by advancements in technology, changing consumer preferences, sustainability goals, as well as global economic forces,” said John de Bruyn, Ontario Pork chair, at the centre’s grand opening. “The industry’s ability to […] Read more

Robert Stwalley, a clinical associate professor in Purdue University’s department of agricultural and biological engineering, shows the hog cooling pad technology IHT has now licensed to make and sell in North America. (Photo: Tom Campbell/Purdue Agricultural Communication via Canada NewsWire)

Farrowing heat pad firm to bring hog cooling pads to market

Manitoba's IHT to offer new system next spring

A Winnipeg-area company providing heating pad and lighting systems for hog barns is set to add a U.S.-developed line of hog cooling pads to its product lineup. IHT (Innovative Heating Technologies) Group announced Thursday it will make and sell a line of water-cooled pads that use a patented system designed at Purdue University in Indiana, […] Read more