We found this article interesting. Although it’s out of the United States, the findings would be mirrored in Canada - OFAC
http://www.dairyherd.com/news_editorial.asp?pgID=675&ed_id=11876&news_id=28210&ts=nl2
July 15, 2010 – Research presented recently at the American Dairy Science Association annual meeting looked at consumer-purchasing decisions when it comes to animal welfare.
What would happen if all consumers were informed about the different types of egg and pork production systems available, and were allowed to purchase egg and pork products from these different systems? asked Bailey Norwood, associate professor at Oklahoma State University. The only difference between the food products would be the level of animal welfare. And, suppose that the price premium attached to products with higher standards of animal care exactly equals the estimated cost premiums. What would happen?
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Posted by OFAC on July 30th, 2010 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Consumers,
Education and public awareness,
Pork,
Uncategorized,
eggs
We’re excited to see the amount of farmers that are using social media outlets to tell their stories about farming. Here’s a great article from the July 12 edition of the Calgary Herald that features once such farmer. We’re now following her on Twitter and hope you will too! – OFAC
Cowgirl blogger; A farmer’s wife tackles social media
——————————————————————————–
Cathryn Hagel can milk a cow and drive a tractor. She helps brand her family’s cattle and she’s chased a coyote or two.
And just for fun, she and her family bought a team of draught horses last year. Y’know: the great big ones that pull wagons filled with people.
But she’s no country bumpkin. Not at all. She’s part of a small but growing number of farm women reaching out to each other and beyond, with the help of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging.
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Posted by OFAC on July 12th, 2010 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Beef cattle,
Canada,
Education and public awareness,
Farm life,
Horses,
Sustainability of the family farm
By Drovers news source | Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Animal Agriculture Alliance is disturbed by the images of alleged animal cruelty documented in a video released this week by an animal rights activist group. The Alliance has long condemned the abuse and mistreatment of animals raised for food and works to promote animal care guidelines on all farms across the United States.
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Posted by OFAC on May 28th, 2010 :: Filed under
Activism,
Animal care,
Animal cruelty,
Dairy cattle,
Family vs factory farmingTags ::
animal abuse,
Animal cruelty,
dairy cows,
factory farming,
farm animal,
mercy for animals
The following is a guest post written for us by Lilian from Food and Farming Canada.
Most of us have very little knowledge of where our food comes from or how it is produced. As a result, misinformation is widely circulated in many different forms – so to get to the real scoop on what’s going on, there’s no one better to ask than a farmer himself.
I had the chance recently to visit with Brent, who raises turkeys on his farm in south-western Ontario, and seized the opportunity to pepper him with questions about one of my favourite holiday meats, turkey.
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Posted by OFAC on May 26th, 2010 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Family vs factory farming,
Farm life,
Food safety,
Poultry,
Sustainability of the family farmTags ::
animal welfare,
antibiotics,
corporate farming,
food safety,
Ontario,
turkey
Farmers must take the lead on animal welfare – their livelihoods depend on it. We like this article, published recently in the Guelph Mercury newspaper, that discusses this fact and a recent national funding announcement designed to take animal welfare even further in Canada – OFAC
Farmers understand benefits of animal welfare
Guelph Mercury
Owen Roberts
May 10, 2010
Healthy animals are profitable animals. And for farmers, profitability is the bottom line. Farmers who treat their animals poorly can face veterinarian bills, and other costly problems – such as a turned-off, unsupportive public. But right now, for the most part, consumers are on farmers’ side. And farmers aim to keep it that way.
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Posted by OFAC on May 20th, 2010 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Animal health,
Canada,
Farm life,
Innovation and technology,
Media,
Research
Here’s an interesting story on the trend towards growing your own food. I think it’s good they got the message out that it’s 24-7 work and the responsibilities associated with raising farm animals. Not as easy as goldfish! – OFAC
Wency Leung
Globe and Mail Update
Tuesday, Apr. 06, 2010 7:18PM EDT
There are dog people and cat people. And then, there are dairy-loving goat people.
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Posted by OFAC on April 7th, 2010 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Other livestock,
backyard flocks
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,
CanadaTags ::
animal care,
beef,
Farmers,
Winter care
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,
eggsTags ::
animal welfare,
eggs,
free range
By Dairy Herd news source | Friday, October 30, 2009
Mike Rowe, host of the show “Dirty Jobs” on the Discovery Channel, has been trying to separate myth from reality when it comes to farming and many other occupations in this country.
“Anybody from a city, in my opinion, who spends a day, a week, maybe even just a few hours on a working farm is going to be quickly disabused of a lot of what they believe,” Rowe told AgriTalk radio host Mike Adams last week.
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Posted by BCFACC on November 4th, 2009 :: Filed under
Activism,
Animal health,
Consumers,
Education and public awareness,
Farm life,
Media
BC egg farmers care for the right reasons. There is more to caring for hens than meets the eye.
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Posted by BCFACC on October 16th, 2009 :: Filed under
Animal health,
Education and public awareness,
Poultry,
eggsTags ::
animal care,
chicken,
education,
eggs,
Farmers,
free range,
Poultry