| I love bacon – in fact, I’m a fan of pork in general.
And especially right now, after hog farmers have taken a beating over the unfortunately named “swine flu” which was actually really H1N1 influenza, I’m supportive of any efforts to promote it and develop new market opportunities. So I was intrigued when I stumbled across the “10 craziest products inspired by bacon” list on the internet yesterday. Continue reading Ten craziest products inspired by bacon  An earlier post by Kelly talked about the changes in Slovak agriculture since the end of Communism almost 20 years ago. While many things have been positive, things don’t seem to be entirely rosy in the world of Slovak agriculture.
Several farmers and farm managers that we’ve met on our journey so far have talked to us about a general decrease in agriculture in Slovakia since 1989. Much of that has to do with strengthening efficiencies, boosting production and evolving to a free market system from the old style of collective farming run by the state. Continue reading The grass isn’t always greener Meeting the needs of a finicky consumer is hard – but essential for success in the evolving global marketplace. And it’s something farmers need to start committing to, according to a popular agricultural economist from Kansas State University. “We need to understand consumer needs and how ungrateful they are,” said Dr. Vincent Amanour-Boadu as he addressed livestock farmers at the recent Making tough decisions in tough times conference in London ON. “And we’ve talked about this long enough – now we need to start committing to success.” Continue reading Meeting finicky consumers’ demands If producers don’t survive, the rest of the industry won’t either. That’s the blunt message Canadian Pork Council president Clare Schlegel is hoping the government will hear loud and clear. The Canadian livestock industry has been battling an economic crisis since last summer, when Canada’s high-flying currency helped sink cattle and hog prices and drive up feed costs. Continue reading Our producers must survive Tough decisions about their businesses and their futures are facing many livestock farmers these days. But there may be some help on the horizon – a one day conference in London this week is designed to help them with those decisions. The Ontario Pork Industry Council is hosting a day-long information meeting for beef, pork and [...] A simple and relatively low cost Danish procedure may help Ontario pork producers in their fight against a devastating disease – Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS).PRRS has been a challenge in Ontario’s hog industry since the early 90′s when it was still called mystery swine disease. In 2004, new and more virulent PRRS strains [...] | |