Check out Claire Danes as Dr. Temple Grandin on the new HBO movie – Grandin. Dr. Temple Grandin has come to Ontario many times to “standing room only” events to talk with farmers and meat processing plant staff to improve farm animal welfare. This woman is truly remarkable and has helped more animals than any activist group could ever imagine, with very little fanfare. Sounds like Dane and this movie will help take the awareness of her incredible work beyond the farm and autism communities.

OFAC

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Posted by OFAC on February 8th, 2010 :: Filed under Uncategorized
Tags :: animal handling, grandin

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This is an interesting perspective on science and politics.  There are lots of parallels between the misconceptions and debates around climate change and those around animal welfare – OFAC.

By Ronald L. Doering

In spite of the media treatment of them, there is nothing that is surprising about the now famous Climategate emails. Surprise could only come from a misunderstanding of the relationship between science, policy and politics. Of course the emails reveal that the climate scientists were affected by policy and political considerations. They had to be. Science, policy and politics are inextricably intertwined. What is surprising is how much our public discourse is still dominated by the quaint utopian view that science and policy can be strictly separated.

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Posted by OFAC on January 22nd, 2010 :: Filed under Activism, Regulations, Research
Tags :: activists, misconceptions, regulation, Research

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At Farm Animal Councils across Canada, we frequently get calls from people driving by farm properties asking questions about the farm animals they see living in the fields. One common theme of questions we receive this time of the year is about animal housing in the winter – specifically, can cattle live outdoors in the winter. This article does a great job of answering that question – OFAC

Chatham Daily News, Friday, January 15

Look for snow on cattle’s backs
Posted By KIM COOPER
Posted 8 hours ago
 
As the winter season is here in Chatham-Kent, let’s look at cattle being left outside during these cold months. For this article, the words cattle, cows, herd, and livestock all mean the same thing. I would like to thank Mike and Joanne Buis of Buis Beef here in Chatham-Kent for their assistance in writing this article.

Like all mammals, cows are warm-blooded and need to maintain a constant core body temperature. Special management and planning is required for cattle to graze outdoors in the winter. For this to be successful, producers select the proper breed of cattle and create the proper conditions for the winter season.

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Posted by OFAC on January 18th, 2010 :: Filed under Animal care, Beef cattle, Canada
Tags :: animal care, beef, Farmers, Winter care

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Posted by AFAC – Promoting the humane handling of horses throughout all their life stages.

Statement of Purpose: The communication of correct information related to the Canadian horse industry to horse owners and the general public.

Visit horsewelfare.ca for information.

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Posted by AFAC on January 8th, 2010 :: Filed under Uncategorized

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Posted by AFAC – We’ve had a few successive “soft” winters, but this year we’re starting off with what’s looking like one of the old fashioned kind. November has been overcast, blustery, quite cool, and we have nearly two feet (60 cm. plus) of snow on the level in our neck of the woods. Good sleighing – poor trucking!

Recollecting life on the homestead in northeast Saskatchewan in the early 1940’s, I remember bands of horses ranging free in winter, travelling through the yard, and on to the stubble fields or next hay meadow. In the spring, “winter lumberjacks” would become “summer stubble jumpers“, catching up and laying claim to an outfit for seeding, haying, bindering, stook threshing, perhaps hauling wood, before turning the horses loose, and themselves heading back to the winter bush camps. We had our feed stacks fenced in next to the barn, protected and handy for Mom and her wee boys to feed our own stock, horses haltered and housed, handled and hitched every day. Quite a contrast, but those running out and those stabled in all seemed to prosper! I’m recounting this because it seems we are now in an age of “free expression” on standards of equine care. “Those who think they know may be a source of some annoyance to those of you who do!”

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Posted by AFAC on January 8th, 2010 :: Filed under Farm life, Horses, Uncategorized

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January 6, 2010 – Happy New Year to the readers of this blog. This article was printed in the Toronto Star over the holiday season and we think this columnist got the issue exactly right. Farm animals aren’t pets and they definitely aren’t 4-legged people. And, with only 1 in every 46 Canadians now actively farming, there is a huge disconnect between farmers and consumers. Enjoy the read – OFAC

The annoying tendency to anthropomorphize animals is likely from our lost connection to rural life

by Connie Woodcock, Out There

Toronto Sun, December 20, 2009

When I was a little girl, I fell in love with a series of books about a pig named Freddy and his barnyard friends on the Bean farm in New York State.

I read every one of the 26 books available in my library over and over. I can remember peering at a New York road map in search of fictional Centerboro, the town supposedly nearest Freddy and his friends.

Written between the 1920s and 1950s, the Freddy books disappeared for a while but they were republished a few years ago and there’s even an association called The Friends of Freddy with its own website. I’ve bought several Freddy reprints and reread them still.

I mention this because much as I loved Freddy, Mrs, Wiggins the cow, Hank the horse with rheumatism in his hind leg, and Charles the henpecked rooster, we all grow up and realize there’s no such thing as a talking animal. At least, most of us do.

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Posted by OFAC on January 6th, 2010 :: Filed under Activism, Canada, Consumers, Education and public awareness, Farm life, Sustainability of the family farm
Tags :: activists, animal care, animal welfare, Canada, Consumers, Farmers, misconceptions, PETA

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December 24, 2009 – In the spirit of Christmas, we don’t think this article could say it any better. The author, Jeanine Moyer, was raised on an Ontario farm and is one of the winners of the Guelph Mercury Christmas story contest. We think Jeanine captured the essence, exactly, of Christmas on a Canadian livestock farm. Merry Christmas to all. – OFAC

Farm families have special Christmas traditions
 GuelphMercury.com – News – December 21, 2009

Christmas is the holiday for traditions. Growing up, we knew our family had several Christmas traditions such as leaving milk and cookies out for Santa, hanging stockings and attending church on Christmas Eve. It wasn’t until we were in our early teens that my siblings and I began to understand just how different our family was and that our Christmas traditions were different from most.

Growing up as the seventh generation on our family farm, my sisters, brother and I knew we were different from most families, and for some reason it always seemed most apparent at Christmastime.

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Posted by OFAC on December 24th, 2009 :: Filed under Beef cattle, Farm life, Sustainability of the family farm
Tags :: animal care, animals, Canada, Farmers

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There’s been plenty of news headlines in the last year about the Canadian recession. We like this article – that focuses on how the recession in agriculture has been going on for much, much longer. – OFAC

We can’t abandon farmers to economic insecurity
Guelph Mercury, December 10 2009
By Lilian Schaer
 
http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/EditorialOpinion/article/572775
It’s been about a year since we were plunged into financial crisis and economic uncertainty. In response, governments in many countries, including Canada, went to unprecedented lengths to protect jobs, stimulate growth and reassure nervous citizens.

Here at home, signs of recovery are emerging. We see the economic action plan at work in our communities and every one of us is now a proud part owner of an automaker. But there’s one sector that still desperately needs support – one that is just as important and just as significant as cars, roads or bridges. And that’s agriculture.

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Posted by OFAC on December 24th, 2009 :: Filed under Farm life, Sustainability of the family farm
Tags :: sustainability

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With a growing interest in buying local, there has also been an increased interest by urban residents in growing their own foods and, in some cases, raising their own chickens for eggs. Here’s a fact sheet prepared by Egg Farmers of Ontario that gives you some tips to think about before you get a backyard flock of your own. – OFAC

Urban Egg Farmer: Top Ten List of Chores

There has been a growing interest in raising egg-laying hens in urban environments.

Properly taking care of chickens requires some physical adaptations to a typical backyard, a daily time
commitment to caring for your flock, a lot of preparation, and a great deal of expertise.

If you are considering having a backyard flock of your own, here is an example of a chore list you should expect.

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Posted by OFAC on December 24th, 2009 :: Filed under Animal health, backyard flocks, eggs
Tags :: animal welfare, eggs, free range

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There’s a lot to think about when moving to the country. Sometimes the reality is very different than the dream although most farmers work hard to get to know their non-farm neighbours and explain to them the processes that must happen for a farm to run smoothly. We like the way this writer from the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder explores this conundrum.

The realities of rural life
The Cornwall Standard-Freeholder
Wed Oct 28 2009
Page: 3
Section: News
Byline: ANGELA DORIE;
Column: Over The Farm Gate
Over the years, the balance of those dwelling and working in rural Ontario has changed… and not necessarily for the better. Presently less than 1 per cent of the rural population are actual farmers as defined by the “Farming and Food Production Protection Act” ( FFPPA) and many conflicts arise between them and the non-farmers.

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Posted by OFAC on December 24th, 2009 :: Filed under Farm life, Innovation and technology, Regulations, Uncategorized

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