THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2016
VOL. 94 | NO. 22 | $4.25
CROP DUSTERS IN TRAINING P48
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
ECO-FRIENDLY WEDDINGS | PAGE 16
GENETIC DILEMMAS | PAGE 47
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What lurks in Alberta fields?
Animal rehab gets a lift
A mild winter combined with an early, warm spring could give the pea leaf weevil a boost this year. Producers are urged to be on guard. | Page 51
The Western College of Veterinary Medicine is working with a more humane and effective device to lift large animals. | Page 56
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RESEARCH
Cattle feed additive could boost immunity BY BARB GLEN LETHBRIDGE BUREAU
A Canadian company has developed a potential alternative to prophylactic antibiotic use in livestock. Avivagen president Cameron Groome said the product’s development is well timed, given ongoing concerns about antibiotic resistant bacteria, antibiotic use in livestock and food company initiatives to use meat from animals never given antibiotics. The feed additive, called OxCbeta, is derived from carotenoids, which are the pigments that make carrots orange and tomatoes red. Groome said peer-reviewed research in Canada and several Asian countries shows OxC-beta i m p rov e s i m mu n e a n d a nt i inflammatory functions in poultry and hogs. “You’re actually strengthening the immune function of the animal in such a way that it doesn’t need to be fed antibiotics to stay healthy in a production environment, and that’s what we’ve been demonstrating,” said Groome.
WORKING THE LATE SHIFT
SEE FEED ADDITIVE, PAGE 5
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PULSES
Canadian lentils sub-par? International buyers disappointed in quality of Canadian lentil exports BY SEAN PRATT SASKATOON NEWSROOM
SEAN PRATT REPORTS FROM THE GLOBAL PULSE CONVENTION IN CESME, TURKEY, ABOUT WHAT IS DRIVING PULSE MARKETS
CESME, Turkey — Some international buyers of Canadian lentils are not happy with the quality they’re getting. “As millers, we are very disappointed in the quality the Canadian system allows suppliers to supply as lentils,” said Saifuddin Abidali, chair of Mufaddal, an Egyp-
tian pulse crop miller. “We don’t know what we’re buying,” Abidali told delegates attending the 2016 Global Pulse Convention in Turkey. “It’s a very serious problem, mainly with the bulk shippers.” He said Canada’s grading system is designed to camouflage the true quality of lentil shipments. “They have adjusted the grades to
suit the shippers and not the buyers,” Abidali said in an interview following the lentil market outlook presentation. He believes the specifications for a No. 2 quality lentil are far too broad and need to be tightened because often what he receives is what he considers to be No. 3 quality product. SEE BUYERS DISAPPOINTED, PAGE 4
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The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Corp. Publisher: Shaun Jessome Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240
Michael Hamm puts the lid on a load of soybeans for the final seeding run of the evening on one of Perry Soper’s fields near Gladstone, Man., as a full moon rises. There’s an old gardener’s tale that says frost will not occur until after the full moon in May. Soper was expecting to be finished seeding by the end of the long weekend. | SANDY BLACK PHOTO
JUNE 2, 2016 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Stn. Main, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4