Melissa Sparling's Page

Poultry service expands into Manitoba

A company that provides poultry catching and handling services will expand into Manitoba. Under the agreement, Elite Services (Elite) will assume full responsibility for poultry services operations previously carried out by Unity Catchers (Unity). Elite spokesperson Chris Vanrietschoten said the company has built its reputation over the past 20 years by focusing on professionalism, animal welfare, and operational excellence. “Our entry into Manitoba reflects our long-term commitment to supporting poultry producers across Western Canada with consistent, high-quality services,” he said. As part of the agreement, Unity will become a shareholder in Elite’s Manitoba operations, continuing with local representation while benefiting from the scale and stability of Elite’s platform. Customers will not be affected by the transition with existing crews and service commitments continuing without disruption. Elite will bring additional resources, systems, and expertise to ensure reliable, saf

The latest in wheat cluster research highlights and upcoming webinars.

Research projects with the Canadian National Wheat Cluster continue to make progress and we are happy to share some specific project updates.  In a recent publication Dr. Firdissa Bokore's Cluster research was profiled, highlighting his work developing molecular markers to speed up the breeding process for new wheat varieties. Some of the top wheat varieties producers use today have come from technological tools provided by Dr. Bokore's team, including AAC Frontier and AAC Oakman.   Save the date and register! Our next Cluster webinar focused on advancements in Canadian Eastern Soft Red Winter and Canadian Eastern Hard Red Winter wheat will explore Dr. Helen Booker and Dr. Michel McElroy's research into enhancing breeding efforts for these two wheat classes. Webinar information and registration links are below. Stay tuned for more great webinars, reports and events related to the Wheat Cluster, and don't forget to follow us on social media. Dr. Firdissa Bokore's research, specific

Unwinding the Fiber in Finishing Diets

High-grain feedlot finishing diets improve feed conversion efficiency and produce high-quality, well-marbled beef. Corn has traditionally been the dominant feed grain in central and eastern Canada and the U.S., while barley is more common in western Canada. The structure of corn starch means that it will generally be digested more slowly than barley. Corn is usually steam-rolled to level the playing field in terms of digestibility and animal performance, while simpler and less costly dry rolling is adequate for barley. Corn has become more common in western Canadian finishing diets in recent years due to decreasing barley acres, increasing corn acres and corn imports. This has led some feedlots to install steam-rollers for corn. Research is underway to learn if steam-rolling improves digestibility and animal performance for barley-based diets. High-grain diets must be managed carefully to avoid abnormal feeding behavior, rumen acidosis and liver abscesses that can negatively affect an

Map: Well Below Normal September Rainfall for Ontario

After ramping up sharply in August, abnormal dryness and drought across southern Ontario did not get any better in September. 

Ontario Investing $41 Million in Agricultural Research Infrastructure

The Ontario government is investing more than $41 million over the next four years to build and revitalize Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario (ARIO) infrastructure.