WARNING: LANGUAGE IN THIS VIDEO MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME. Bill Mahr reminds us how our contempt for nature and the way we produce food is biting us back.

The smell, the noise, the dust: my neighbour, the factory farm

The Guardian

Industrial farms are spreading across Europe. Greenpeace campaigners went to talk to the people who live close by.Warning: readers may find some of the images upsetting. Story here.

Dead hogs in a dumpster at a Manitoba factory barn,
awaiting removal to an unknown location. A PinP photo.

Please also read -"In Hogs We Trust."  

A critique of Manitoba’s runaway hog industry.

Part 1 - Antibiotic Overuse.

Part 11 - The price we pay for corporate pig$.

Part 111 - From Malaysia to Manitoba - the global magnitude of livestock diseases.

Part 1V - The health and environmental costs of an expanded hog industry.

Part V - What’s behind Manitoba’s drive to expand? 

African swine fever (ASF) would be a disaster

There is a ‘clear risk’ the swiftly spreading disease could come here, says leading swine health vet

By Alexis Kienlen FOLLOW

Reporter Alberta farmer - February 11, 2019

These red spots are typical of African swine fever.  
A Wikimedia photo.

There is a real risk that the African swine fever virus could enter Canada — and if it did, it would be catastrophic, says one of the country’s leading swine health experts.

Emissions impossible

Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

A confined animal feeding operation in the U.S.
Photo by the E.P.A.

How big meat and dairy are heating up the planet. Story here.

RELATED: "In Hogs We Trust - Part 1V - The health and environmental costs of an expanded hog industry in Manitoba, Canada."

Industrial farms in Britain receive millions in subsidies

The Guardian

The Guardian and Bureau of Investigative Journalism establish that intensive farms in the UK received nearly £70m in two years. Details here.

Dead pigs in a dumpster outside a Manitoba factory farm await 
removal to an unknown destination. A PinP photo.

Please read related:  "In Hogs We Trust - Part 11 -  

The price Manitobans pay for corporate pig$." 

Why I’m looking forward to my first vegan Christmas

The Guardian

Damian Carrington 

I won’t be eating turkey this year because of meat’s environmental impact. More here.

A turkey farm in Missouri. Photo by Billy Hathorn.

Chickens freezing to death and boiled alive: failings in US slaughterhouses exposed

The Guardian.

Chickens slowly freezing to death, being boiled alive, drowned or suffocating under piles of other birds are among hundreds of shocking welfare incidents recorded at US slaughterhouses, according to previously unpublished reports. Story here.

An American broiler (meat) chicken house.
USDA photo by Joe Valbuena.

European parliament approves curbs on use of antibiotics on farm animals

TheGuardian

Move is aimed at halting the spread of ‘superbugs’ resistant to medical treatment. Details here.

RELATED: Starting this December, Canadian farmers will need a prescription to obtain veterinary antibiotics for their livestock. According to a retired University of Guelph professor, John Prescott, the federal regulatory changes mean the agriculture industry will be required to play its part in reducing the use of antibiotics here and around the world. More here.

The RM of Yellowhead will ask an independent investigator to solve a dispute over an allegedly illegal hog barn operation in southwestern Manitoba.

The citizens' group HogWatch Manitoba made an official presentation to the RM council two week ago, It claimed the barn owner, Wim Verbruggen had built a bigger barn housing more animals than the rules allowed. A Hogwatch official, Ruth Pryzner, suggested it be shut down because it had deprived any concerned resident the right to be heard. She also feared he may have to spread the waste on fields in winter, which is illegal. That's because he apparently has not expanded his storage capacity to take care of the waste from the barn.

But, following a council meeting today, Mayor Don Yanick told PinP, Verbruggen still maintains he is not keeping more animals than he should (He claims it is 297, not the 300 or more he is alleged to be). The Mayor says the RM will ask some independent person to look into the situation to confirm who is right before deciding on any further action. Despite the controversy, the Mayor says he would not be opposed to one or two more barns in the region in the future. 

After serving for several terms in that position, Yanick is not seeking re-election in the civic elections later this month.

Hogwatch has not yet commented on this latest development. But its position has already been,“If the Yellowhead Council refuses to take the strongest enforcement action possible, choosing instead to try and bring the operator into compliance with the law, rural people and the environment are in big trouble as the hog industry expands across the Province. Failures in the livestock approval system have broad implications for how hog barn expansion will proceed in the future under the Pallister government's direction,” Pryzner concluded.

How animal waste is helping turn China's lakes green

The Guardian
Animal husbandry is contaminating China's water and has been linked to bright-green lakes, a phenomenon know as eutrophication. More here. 

Lest we North Americans feel smug, this image shows one of countless
"eutrophied" sloughs in Manitoba, on the Canadian prairies. A PinP photo.

Related: In Hogs We Trust - Part 1V - The health and environmental price we Manitobans will pay for an expanded hog industry.

Officials Worry Yet Another Lethal Pig Disease May be Coming to Canada

by Larry Powell

The Manager of the "Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network" warns, now that African Swine Fever (ASF) has been confirmed in China, the risk of it spreading to North America, has increased. 

Dr. Jette Christensen, veterinary epidemeologist.

Dr. Jette Christensen (above) describes ASF as "a serious and trade-limiting viral infection." Speaking on the industry-sponsored radio program, "Farmscape," she assured listeners, if  the Canadian industry follows import regulations, "they should be safe." But she also warns that the virus can survive for months outside the host in pork products.

The swelling around the kidneys and the muscle hemorrhages shown here are 
typical of pigs with African swine fever. Karen Apicelli USDA

Dr. Christensen warns Canadian producers, that workers they hire, could bring the disease home with them after vacationing in China or Eastern Europe. And they should even be careful when bringing in exchange students, for the same reason.

AFS does not affect humans, so is not considered a food safety concern. But it is described as one of the deadliest diseases of pigs.

The World Health Organization warns that crowded, confined and intensive livestock"factories" (used widely in Canada and around the world), increase the risk of such infectious diseases. 

Delia Grace Randolph, veterinary epidemiologist.

And, in the words of Delia Grace Randolph of the International Livestock Research Institute (above), "The evidence seems quite clear that intensification, especially of pigs and poultry, is associated with emerging infectious zoonotic disease, foodborn disease and antimicrobial resistant pathogens."

Please read more here:

Deadly African Swine Fever Arrives in China, the World's Largest Hog Producer.

African Swine Fever has already arrived in Romania.

In Hogs We Trust - Part 111 - The magnitude of livestock diseases, worldwide.

Rural Americans’ struggles against factory farm pollution find traction in court. Will it happen in Canada, too?

THE CONVERSATION

A Manitoba animal factory. Photo credit - Mercy for Animals, Canada.

As U.S. livestock farming becomes more industrial, it is changing rural life. More here.

RELATED:

"In Hogs We Trust."  

A critique of Manitoba’s runaway hog industry.

Part 1 - Antibiotic Overuse.

Part 11 - The price we pay for corporate pig$. 

Part 111 - The magnitude of animal diseases, worldwide.

Part 1V - The health and environmental costs of an expanded hog industry.

Part V - Who’s behind Manitoba’s drive to expand? Find the answers here!

Deadly African swine fever arrives in China, the world’s largest producer of pigs

International Livestock Research Institute

A piglet, one of countless who died of Porcine Epidemic 

Diarrhea in Manitoba over the past 18 months. (A Manitoba Pork photo.) 

Diseases deadly to hogs, some of which can also spread to humans, are legion.

Long feared, it's now finally happened. African Swine Fever (ASF), an infectious and highly-lethal viral disease of pigs has, for the first time, reared its head in China. Story here.

RELATED; "In Hogs We Trust - Part 111"

A Third Smithfield Lawsuit Verdict Creates Alarm Among Producers

FarmJournal’s PORK

A Smithfield operation in Missouri. A Wikimedia photo. 

A third lawsuit against Smithfield Foods had found the company guilty for “unreasonable nuisances they suffered from odors, flies and rumbling trucks.” A federal jury placed the fine at $473.5 million to six neighbors of pig farms. STORY HERE.

Related: 

•                                                                            "In Hogs We Trust"  

                                           A critique of hog industry expansion in Manitoba.

Part 1 - Antibiotic Overuse.

Part 11 - Government subsidies. 

Part 111 - The consequences of animal diseases, worldwide.

Part 1V - The environmental costs of an expanded hog industry in Manitoba.

Part V - Who’s behind Manitoba’s drive to expand? Click here and find out!

• Is Manitoba's factory hog industry becoming its own worst enemy?

When the EPA sided with factory farms, she quit. (Video)

Back in 2001, Michele Merkel worked for the EPA.

One of her first cases was with farmers who were suing mega-hog factory farms for polluting the community's air and water. When the EPA sided with the giant corporations, she quit.

Now Michele works at Food & Water Watch, fighting for laws and legislation that force our government and the EPA to protect your water, air and food from factory farms — as they are mandated to do.

Check out Michele's TEDx Talk to hear her story and how you can fight with Michele against factory farms.

African Swine Fever could be in Germany in 4 years

PIG PROGRESS

A research team has concluded that the viral disease - often considered the most deadly of all hog infections - spreads west at a speed of around 200 km per year. More here.

The ear of an infected hog. ASF causes a condition called petechia - red or purple splotches due to bleeding into the skin. Photo credit - USDA

RELATED: "In Hogs We Trust" - Part 3 - The consequences of animal diseases, worldwide.

Diversion tactics: how big pharma is muddying the waters on animal antibiotics

The Guardian

Antibiotic use on farms is a major cause of human drug resistance. Yet slick social media campaigns – funded by the multi-billion-dollar industry – are confusing and complicating the issue. Story here.

A Canstock Photo image.

Hog Watch Manitoba Exposes the Heavy Hand of Government. (An audio podcast interview)

 Alon Olamel Onebird, host of the program "Rogue Primate" on CKUW - University of Winnipeg Radio - interviews Ruth Pryzner of Hog Watch Manitoba, about the tactics being used by our provincial government in order to secure the financial success of big hog corporations.

Underreporting of toxic waste at American hog farms prompts inquiry

The Guardian

Testing of 55 North Carolina lagoons showed large discrepancies in levels of key pollutants compared to what was self-reported. More here.

Hog lagoons in Iowa. 

Photo credit - USDA

Special Investigation: How the common agricultural policy promotes pollution - the View From Europe.

The Ecologist.

Almost a trillion Euros in taxpayers' money is handed to EU farmers as part of the Common Agricultural Policy. The money is supposed to leverage environmental practices. But an international team of investigative journalists, today publishing with THE ECOLOGIST, has found the cash actually feeds significant pollution. More here.