By Leslie Ballentine, Farming and food commentator
My teenager spends countless hours on Facebook and YouTube. Apparently she isn’t alone. YouTube has announced that its users have uploaded more than 13 million hours of video content to its servers in the last 12 months, resulting in more than 700 billion YouTube video views. I am sure my daughter has been a big contributor to those stats. But apparently so have farmers and ranchers.
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Posted by FFC on March 10th, 2011 :: Filed under
Consumers,
Education and public awareness,
Farm life,
Innovation and technologyTags ::
Consumers,
education,
farm tours
By Leslie Ballentine, Farming and food commentator
Just as livestock munching predators, such as coyotes and bears, pose a serious threat to livestock, farmers are under attack by much smaller animals too: Rats and mice. I recently read a report by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs which estimates that a colony of 100 rats will eat more than a tonne of feed in a year. That much feed costs farmers about $285, or enough to feed four pigs to market weight. And the Ministry factsheet says one pair of rats and their offspring can produce 20 million (yes million) young in three years, mice reproduce even faster.
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Posted by FFC on March 2nd, 2011 :: Filed under
Animal health,
Education and public awareness,
Farm life,
Food safetyTags ::
agriculture,
animals,
education,
Farmers,
food safety
By Leslie Ballentine, Farming and food commentator
The concept of sustainability has raised a flurry of definitions, expectations and actions in recent years. The difficulty is that the definition is often determined by whoever does the defining. “Sustainable agriculture” has been a long time tenet of food producers. Retailers and foodies and special interest groups of all strips are now attaching new attributes to “sustainable food”. The result, unfortunately, is that “sustainable agriculture” doesn’t always mesh with “sustainable food”.
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Posted by FFC on February 23rd, 2011 :: Filed under
Consumers,
Feeding the world,
OrganicsTags ::
agriculture,
education,
misconceptions,
sustainability
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,
eggs,
PoultryTags ::
animal care,
chicken,
education,
eggs,
Farmers,
free range,
Poultry
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
By Mannix Porterfield, THE REGISTER-HERALD (BECKLEY, W.V.)
Aug 16/06
FAIRLEA, W.Va.— Go back in time, say a century or so, even before the iron horse made its debut, and fetch a poultry farmer, pluck him off his Currier and Ives setting, then escort him into a modern chicken barn.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Innovation and technology,
PoultryTags ::
animal care,
education,
Farmers,
food,
Poultry
Lloydminster Meridian Booster, 11 Jan 2008, Letter to the Editor
To the editor:
Why is it that urban dwelling experts and animal rights advocates feel they have to educate farmers in the economics and practices of farming?
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Family vs factory farming,
Letters to the EditorTags ::
activists,
agriculture,
animals,
education,
Farmers,
misconceptions
Source:Farmscape for February 5, 2009 (Episode 3095)
A Washington based communications strategist is encouraging livestock producers to harness some of the same strategies used by animal rights activists to get their message out.
Production agriculture has increasingly become the target of animals rights activists who have been extremely successful in bringing about legislative restrictions on livestock producers.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Consumers,
Education and public awarenessTags ::
activists,
agriculture,
Consumers,
education,
Farmers,
Media,
misconceptions
The pigsite , August 04, 2008
INDIANA – It’s no secret that the farms of today are significantly different from those of generations past.
Dr. Jeff Harker’s veterinarian practice is dedicated solely to swine.Today’s farmers depend on technology such as GPS, odor filtration systems and computer programs to efficiently and safely produce food to feed the world’s growing population says a feature in the Indy Star. But the picture of modern farming sometimes makes those outside of agriculture uneasy.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Family vs factory farming,
Housing,
PorkTags ::
animal care,
education,
Farmers,
meat,
p,
pigs,
Pork
Green Acres comes to the Western Fair as some kids see a cow for the first time.
BY APRIL ROBINSON, SPECIAL TO SUN MEDIA, London Free Press, 2007.09.15
A black cow — a prized Limousin heifer — rests in a pen beside a raffle table at the Western Fair. “Win $1200 or Freezer Beef,” a sign reads.
The sight caught 23-year-old Lilla Pferschy of London by surprise.
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Posted by FFC on July 19th, 2009 :: Filed under
Consumers,
Education and public awarenessTags ::
cattle,
Consumers,
education,
Farmers,
food
