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Pigging Out on Genetically Modified Pork


Genetically engineered pork may one day become a part of your local grocer's food list. But who's to decide whether or not this product should be on the shelves?

It's a question before officials in both Canada and the U.S., thanks to Canadian researchers who have developed a genetically modified pig which they want to breed commercially for human consumption. It is, however, a controversial topic.

At the centre of the furor, a line of pigs known as the "Enviropig." The scientist who developed it, the University of Guelph's Dr. Cecil Forsberg, explains that it is more environmentally friendly than your average pig because it uses phosphorus more efficiently. "Because of this characteristic, the manure contains anywhere from 30 to 65 per cent less phosphorus, and as a consequence, that manure is less polluting," says Forsberg.

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Cleaning Sheep Barns & Setting Up Chutes

Video: Cleaning Sheep Barns & Setting Up Chutes

Indoor sheep farming in winter at pre-lambing time requires that, at Ewetopia Farms, we need to clean out the barns and manure in order to keep the sheep pens clean, dry and fresh for the pregnant ewes to stay healthy while indoors in confinement. In today’s vlog, we put fresh bedding into all of the barns and we remove manure from the first groups of ewes due to lamb so that they are all ready for lambs being born in the next few days. Also, in preparation for lambing, we moved one of the sorting chutes to the Coveralls with the replacement ewe lambs. This allows us to do sorting and vaccines more easily with them while the barnyard is snow covered and hard to move sheep safely around in. Additionally, it frees up space for the second groups of pregnant ewes where the chute was initially.