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Showing posts with the label Livestock

Strategic Blueprint Foresees Slimmed-Down Hog Industry

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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION - By: Laura Rance - 11/07/2009 Pork council angles for government help to ease transition... Click headline for more. Kichiro Sato

STILL More Reaction to "To Graze or not to Graze!"

"I've seen riparian areas managed well where cattle are allowed in for brief periods, usually during the late fall and winter months. They can graze the tall grasses and do a bit of breaking up of soil (but not too much) that can help seeds germinate for greater biodiversity. But the rest of the year they were excluded from the riparian area - it is too sensitive, and cattle can easily overwhelm the ecosystem due to their size and numbers and tendency to congregate where access to water is easiest. "As a general policy, exclusion may well be the best course, as it can be quite difficult to assess all the factors that need to be considered to do a proper job of managing short-term seasonal grazing in riparian areas. In other words, err on the side of caution." Cathy Holtslander - Beyond Factory Farming. "BFF" is a national organization promoting socially responsible livestock production in Canada. Cathy has been involved in environmental advocacy with a foc

More Reaction to; "To Graze or not to Graze...."

"I have no problem with cattle grazing in riparian areas. However, I do have a problem with cattle pooping in riparian areas. The “expert” opinions which are now giving tacit approval to contaminating water with cow pies are defying the fundamental science of eutrophication. This is mildly Orwellian. One wonders how the vegetation in riparian zones actually survived and flourished before the introduction of cattle to Canada. " C. Hugh Arklie (Who is Hugh Arklie?) "I am a chartered accountant now working in the philanthropic sector. I am in my final year of an Environmental Studies degree program at the U of Winnipeg. For many years I have observed and participated in local environmental issues. One of my biggest frustrations is how the public service serves industry more and more, and the public less and less. "Otherwise I am just a private citizen acting on my own when I feel compelled to point out that the Emperor is sometimes naked. This is the case with r

To Graze or not to Graze. Do Cattle Belong in Riparian Areas? In Some Cases, Yes, say Experts.

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by Larry Powell While mixed messages seem to be emerging about the wisdom of grazing cattle near rivers, streams and lakes, experts say, not so. Courtesy of Water's Edge Courtesy of the Upper Assiniboine River Conservation District Above - The pretty and the ugly sides of riparian management. For years, the Government of Manitoba and Conservation Districts have promoted the idea of keeping livestock away from these so-called "riparian areas." Financial incentives, grants and even tax breaks have been offered to producers who keep their cattle away from shorelines. The Lake of the Prairies Conservation District, (LPCD) for example, is now offering ranchers along waterways such as the Shell and Assiniboine Rivers, up to $5,000 each if they take certain steps. They'll be eligible for up to $3,000 if they install "offsite" (away from shorelines) watering systems and additional incentives for building fences to keep their livestock back, or repair areas alrea

Update to "Big Cattle Operation Worries Local Resident"

A long-time resident of Roblin, Manitoba, CA, Ray Spencer, says the onus will apparently be on him if he wants to proceed with his concerns about a big cattle operation north of town, near Boggy Creek. (Please read the response of the owners of the operations, the Beasleys to the story, below and the author's response to that, immediately after.) In a story in the weekly newspaper, the Roblin Review in April, Spencer said those who fish in a small lake next to the ranch, were worried it might get contaminated by the waste from the nearby cattle. A provincial inspector went to the ranch to investigate his complaint. But Spencer says the Minister of Conservation, Stan Struthers, has now informed him, he'll have to prove the lake has been polluted by the cattle, before any action can be taken under provincial regulations. Spencer says he is angry that cattle producers don't seem to have to abide by the same sort of strict waste disposal regulations as, for example, cottage-own

The Swine Flu Scare Lays Bare the Meat Industry's Monstrous Power

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By *Mike Davis . Posted April 28, 2009 . (Photo courtesy of "Centre for Research on Globaliziation" ) Animal husbandry now more closely resembles the petrochemical industry than the happy family farm. Click on title for more ... ====== Please also read - Flying Pigs, Tamiflu and Factory Farms - by F. William Engdahl AND Swine Flu Is Related to Virus Born on U.S. Hog Factories in 1998 AND A FOOD SYSTEM THAT KILLS New from GRAIN - April 2009 SWINE FLU IS MEAT INDUSTRY'S LATEST PLAGUE Read more here... COMMENT: Johanne Dion said... Very few seem to want to ask the question: how do these epidemics start and what can we do to avoid them? Seems to me that factory farming is just begging for these new virus mutations while creating pools of superbugs by using micro-dosing of antibiotics. A productive thing than anybody in an industrialized country can do is to buy pork and ham that comes from a family size, almost organic pig farm, and avoid all prepared meats that come fr

13 Breathtaking Effects of Cutting Back on Meat

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By Kathy Freston, AlterNet. Posted April 22, 2009. The meat industry contributes to land degradation, climate change, air pollution, water shortage and pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Read more here.... Photos by L.P. Click on "Water" and "Livestock" labels to the right for related stories.

Big Cattle Operation Worries Local Resident - by Larry Powell

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(See update in newer post.) A long-time resident of the Roblin area of western Manitoba, Ray Spencer, has asked the Manitoba Department of Water Stewardship to look into an intensive livestock operation north of the town, near Boggy Creek. The cattle in question with Langen Lk. in b.g. He says too many cattle (perhaps hundreds) are being fed in a field which slopes directly into Langen Lake, used for years by anglers in the area. Many are members of the local San Clara/Boggy Creek Metis community. The Lake itself was named for Pat Langen, who used to live nearby. Spencer, an angler, hunting guide, retired farmer and former livestock specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, has talked to some of the people who fish there. And they are worried the waste from the cattle is polluting the lake. (r.) He says some even fear the lake, noted for its walleye, may even die in a few years as a result. Another Beasley herd in the area, but away from the lake. Hundreds of Black Angus cattle are w

Future Hog Barn Development Will Be Less "Extreme." Minister

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ROBLIN, MB. Oct. 20-'08 by Larry Powell Manitoba's Conservation Minister, Stan Struthers, promises that past mistakes in the way factory hog barns have grown up in parts of the province, will not be repeated elsewhere. Struthers makes the remarks in an interview wit h "Paths Less Travelled" today. (Struthers Photo Courtesy Gov of MB) In the face of sustained and sometimes vicious opposition from the hog lobby, Struthers (also the Minister responsible for the environment) recently piloted a law through the provincial legislature, freezing the development of new factory hog barns in three areas of the province; the Interlake, the Red River Valley and the southeast. But new ones will still be allowed in the rest of the province! In that regard, Struthers has reassuring words for people in these areas (like myself) who might fear they will be adversely affected by new barns. He says a working group will bring recommendations back to him that will address such things as s

SO WHO'SE UNFRIENDLY? MANITOBANS OR THE HOG LOBBY?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May 19, 2008 Beyond Factory Farming Manitoba, a group promoting the ethical production of livestock, has launched a new website as a response to the "Unfriendly Manitoba" ad campaign by the Manitoba Pork Council. “It’s time to put the friendly back into Manitoba farming,” says BFF's Glen Koroluk. There is a small minority in our community who would make you believe that Bill 17 would devastate our province. The Truth of the matter is that the Bill does not go far enough! It will still allow unfriendly factory hog barns to continue to operate and expand in most of rural Manitoba. Bill 17 is an amendment to the Manitoba Environment Act which. If enacted, it will prohibit the construction of new, confined livestock areas for hogs and hog manure storage facilities, or the expansion of exisiting ones, in specific areas of Manitoba. It allows existing factory farms in these areas to operate business as usual. However, these areas make up less than a th