Food and Farming Canada » livestock

Keeping tabs on where the cows are

Lilian — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:12:45 +0000

RFID tags are placed in an animal's ear

Many modern-day pet owners microchip their four-legged companions.

This is to help identify them should they become lost, injured or otherwise harmed in some way.

Farmers are doing a similar thing with their beef cattle.

They’re using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to keep track of their animals as they move [...]

As cows live and eat

Lilian — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:59:02 +0000

Here’s the third in a series of guest posts I’ve been writing for the Canadian Beef Blog.

Last month, I described some of the different cattle breeds and how to tell the difference between a dairy cow (one that gives milk) and a beef cow (one that is raised for meat).

Now we’re going to take a quick [...]

Cows of many colours

Lilian — Tue, 17 May 2011 02:11:43 +0000

Here’s another guest blog I wrote for Canadian Beef Blog recently:

A cow is a cow is a cow, right? Not exactly.

Yes, they’re all the same type of animal but there are many different breeds. For example, even though they’re both dogs, there aren’t a lot of similarities between a small white Bichon Frise and a large [...]

Fabulous farming fotos

Lilian — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:05:17 +0000

For anyone writing or blogging about farming, here’s a great resource for you.

One of my biggest struggles is always trying to find current, accurate and available photos to go along with articles or blog posts.

The Ontario agriculture photo library has a wide array of available photos depicting many of the different aspects of farming in our [...]

Banff, pork and social media

Lilian — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:43:35 +0000

I’m in beautiful Banff today, giving a presentation to hog farmers and pork industry representatives on social media and how we can use it in agriculture.

It’s a bit of an event for me, for a number of reasons. First of all, I always like talking about social media and helping people gain an understanding of the [...]

Dispelling dispair about the future of food and farming

Lilian — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:54:51 +0000

In Western Canada, student enrolment at various agricultural colleges is on the rise. And an increasing percentage of students flocking to programs in animal, food, life and environmental sciences are coming from urban areas, which spokespeople at these institutions attribute at least partly to the growing public interest in agriculture and food.

Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College hasn’t [...]

Through the eyes of a cow

Lilian — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:23:18 +0000

Have you ever wondered what the world looks like through the eyes of animals?

I think about that sometimes when I watch my dog lie in the grass, seemingly engrossed in nothing. Growing up on a dairy farm, I was surrounded by cattle on a daily basis and I remember wondering that too when I’d watch them [...]

Meeting consumer demands for marbled pork

Lilian — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:46:37 +0000

Consumers are looking for the full flavour of marbled pork and work is now underway to bring such products to the Ontario market.

Ontario Pork has taken the lead in working with farmers, retailers and processors to determine the level of marbling consumers want, evaluate different swine genetics and feeding regimens and assess the quality and consistency [...]

Farm animal welfare blog launched

Lilian — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:27:05 +0000

Taking care of animals on the road

Lilian — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:58:46 +0000

At any given point, there are more animals on the move in Canada than most of us realize.

Livestock – like cattle, sheep and pigs – travel our highways as they move from farm to farm or when they are sent to market.

And because our food and farming sector is dealing with the same consolidation issues as [...]