By Patricia Grotenhuis, lifelong farmer and agricultural enthusiast
January 4, 2011 – It is common for consumers to have questions about farming practices and a farmer’s care for the environment. With an industry as diverse as agriculture, no one (not even those who work in it) can be expected to understand all aspects of it completely. In addition, there are so many different ways to farm that no two farms are ever alike.
The vast majority of farms do have some commonalities. Aside from managing large amounts of work with limited resources and always being expected to produce more from less, the most noticeable similarity is a farmer’s genuine care for his or her animals and for the environment.
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Posted by FFC on January 4th, 2011 :: Filed under
Environmental Farm Plan,
Farm life,
Regulations,
Research,
Sustainability of the family farm
By Patricia Grotenhuis, lifelong farmer and agricultural enthusiast.
December 22, 2010 – During the summer, I attended the Canadian National Exhibition with the Ontario Farm Animal Council’s (OFAC) spokesrobot Oprah. Most of the questions we were asked were fairly general, but there was one comment which has stuck in my mind since then.
It is one I’m sure everyone in agriculture has heard at some point, and if they have not heard it yet, they will soon. While we were on our way to the parking lot at the end of the day, a gentleman stopped us and asked what Oprah was for. I briefly explained that she is an educational assistant sent to events such as fairs and festivals by the Ontario Farm Animal Council, and followed up by telling him who OFAC is and what it does.
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Posted by FFC on December 22nd, 2010 :: Filed under
Animal care,
animal handling,
Animal health,
Barn fires,
Codes of Practice,
Consumers,
Dairy cattle,
Education and public awareness,
Farm life,
Housing,
Innovation and technology,
Regulations,
Research,
Sustainability of the family farm,
Uncategorized
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 FFC on January 22nd, 2010 :: Filed under
Activism,
Regulations,
ResearchTags ::
activists,
misconceptions,
regulation,
Research
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 FFC on December 24th, 2009 :: Filed under
Farm life,
Innovation and technology,
Regulations,
Uncategorized
08Dec19 By SHANNON RUCKMAN, The Prairie Star editor
BILLINGS, Mont. – With close to 10 million horses in the nation, Montana horse owners and enthusiasts are concerned about the welfare of the equine industry if legislation is passed banning the transport of horses to slaughter facilities.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Horses,
Meat/slaughter plants,
Regulations,
TransportationTags ::
Horses,
regulation,
Transportation
Fairview Post
Posted By Chris Zwick
November 12, 2008
Livestock haulers and handlers across the country will soon require certification to transport livestock, but luckily enough the Fairview college campus is offering a one-day Certified Livestock Transport training program on Nov. 15.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Regulations,
TransportationTags ::
animal care,
education,
livestock,
regulation,
Transportation
Feedstuffs, (12/25/2008) ,
Rod Smith
The National Meat Assn. (NMA) has filed a lawsuit in a federal court in California seeking to overturn part of a California law passed this summer that bans the slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock for meat for human consumption, and the American Meat Institute (AMI) has moved to intervene in and broaden the action, according to an announcement yesterday.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Meat/slaughter plants,
RegulationsTags ::
agriculture,
animal welfare,
animals,
meat,
regulation
Source: FDA, 22.dec.08
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that the District Court for the Western District of Missouri entered a Consent Decree on Dec. 15, 2008, prohibiting Milbank Mills, an animal feed mill in Chillicothe, Mo., from manufacturing, processing, or distributing medicated animal feed. Milbank Mills and its officers Edward P. Milbank and Darrell L. Allen, face these restrictions until they comply with current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) requirements for medicated animal feeds.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Animal health,
Food safety,
RegulationsTags ::
food safety,
medicated feed,
regulation
10.dec.08, Wall Street Journal
Alicia Mundy and Jared Favole
The Food and Drug Administration said it would continue allowing the widespread use of a class of powerful antibiotics in food-producing animals, making a last-minute reversal after calling the practice a public-health risk in July.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Animal health,
RegulationsTags ::
antibiotics,
Farmers,
food safety,
regulation
BY TOBI COHEN, OTTAWA SUN, 2003.06.22
Pulling up to Luc and Louise Secours’ Bainsville farm one would never guess it was home to as many as 6,000 piglets at any given time.
It’s located on a large chunk of property a kilometre or so east of their
family farm home which stands perched atop a small hill next door to their chicken coop along Concession 2 in tiny South Glengarry town.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Animal health,
Consumers,
Family vs factory farming,
Housing,
Innovation and technology,
Pork,
RegulationsTags ::
activists,
agriculture,
Consumers,
environment,
Farmers,
misconceptions,
Ontario,
pigs,
Pork
