It appears that bee populations are dwindling and people are starting to become concerned at the scale of the bee catastrophe.

Many scientists and bee keepers have many theories of what might be causing the decline. These theories range from weather and climate change to pesticide use and over-use to disease, viruses and parasites. None of these theories have been proved conclusively. Perhaps the collapse in bee populations is due to a combination of the above factors.

Regardless of the causes of the collapse, the impact is huge as bees are relied on extensively for pollination of crops such as almonds, strawberries, blueberries and apples. There are estimates that pollination produces $40 billion worth of goods in the US. A reduction in the effectiveness could have a large impact in the amount and quality of food produced and made available to consumers. In some worst case scenarios, the entire food chain could be severely impacted as crops are no longer

I certainly hope that scientists can quickly determine what is causing this bee population collapse so that we can try to slow the losses and protect these valuable and often underrated insects.

Fredericton Junction based Atlantic Dairy and Forage Institute is looking to undergo a $8.5 million expansion in part to research how to improve the quality of milk.

The Institute hopes to examine how the quality of feed impacts the quality of milk which is produced by cows. By determining how the quality of the feed impacts the resulting milk, it may be possible to adjust feed to get milk with desirable characteristics such as lower amounts of saturated fats or omega-3 fatty acids.

There is a growing concern over the use of antibiotics in animals and how excessive use (or misuse) of antibiotics in animals can lead to reduced antibiotic effectiveness in humans.

Antibiotics on the farm lead to human resistance

Numerous studies and evidence indicate (although not conclusively) that there is a direct link between the use of an antibiotics in raising poultry and human resistance to them. In Canada, a study concerning the use of a third generation cephalosporin antibiotic called ceftiofur in hatcheries matched a rapid increase in human resistance to the drug. Likewise when the drug use was voluntarily withdrawn from chicken hatcheries, the incidences of human resistance to cefiofur.

The antibiotic is injected into the egg prior to a chick hatching as a preventative measure against disease and illness. This allows more chickens to be raised in

The large amount of evidence has led an antibiotic resistance expert Frank Aares to say:

“Taken in context with all the other knowledge we have, anyone still opposing a link between antibiotic use in food animal production and direct human health impact does so for other reasons than science.”

Despite the evidence and the removal of the drug for “off-label use” in Canada and in other countries, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has withdrawn a proposed law which prohibits the extra-label use of cephalosporins. Extra-label use (sometimes referred to as off-label use) is the use of drug for a purpose for which it has not been explicitly approved. In this case, cephalosporin antibiotics have not been approved by the FDA as a preventative antibiotic, it appears to only have been approved for treatment of illnesses in swine and cattle.

FDA and ‘Big Chicken’ duke it out

It appears that there is a battle being waged between the FDA and “Big Chicken” over Antibiotics. It will be interesting if the FDA reintroduces a ban in the future or if the big agri-business (and drug makers) have won another round. Large industrial chicken farmers want to be able to use the antibiotic to increase the amount of chickens that they can raise in a given space and reduce the chance of disease spreading through their flocks. Understandable as those goals are, if it puts humans as risk of not having antibiotics be effective when required, I’ll have my chicken sans antibiotics.

Researchers from the University of Alberta, the Guelph University and the University of Manitoba have found a way to cut cattle methane by up to 25 percent.

Feed is key

By adjusting feed’s chemical balance, researchers were able to greatly reduce methane production in cattle. Specifically they examined the balance of starch, sugar, cellulose, ash, fat and “other elements”.

Other factors at play

The research team as well as other researchers around the world have also examined other solutions for reducing the methane production of dairy cows and cattle including using genetics to selectively breed lower methane producing cattle and introducing specially formulated additives including enzymes or fish oil in feed to reduce the production of methane. Other factors which impact the total methane production include the productivity of the dairy cows (ie: more milk produced per cows means less cows needed).

Less methane good for environment

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas being 20 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Luckily, methane emissions are at much lower volume than carbon dioxide but even the Kyoto protocol which seeks to control greenhouse gas emissions attempts to regulate the amount of methane being produced in each country.

It has been shown that approximately 16% of methane emissions are due to cattle belch while the entire livestock sector (including chickens, pigs and cattle) produce 37% of human induced methane emissions.

The province of New Brunswick recently announced that it would make available up to $300,000 for silviculture operations such as thinning (commercial and pre-commercial) on their sugar maple stands.

Judging from last year’s silviculture funding, there are restrictions to what size operation are eligible for funding (5 hectares with > 150 taps/ha) as well a maximum limit per hectare ($500) and per producer ($5000).

Why support maple producers through silviculture?

The intent of the financial support is to encourage healthy and more productive sap production from the sugar maples and which should in turn encourage increased maple syrup production. Unfortunately there are other uncontrollable factors such as weather which affect sap production and thus profitability.

New Brunswick is a fairly large player in the maple syrup market worldwide with approximately four million pounds of syrup being produced every season. Although this is a relatively small amount compared to the production from Quebec, it still represents about $12 million annually to the New Brunswick economy. In addition, with the price of maple syrup having risen fairly dramatically in the last few years, maple syrup production has the potential for increased returns.

By specifically targeting the silviculture side of maple syrup production, as opposed to say improving the efficiency of the sap boiling process, the government is also helping out provincial silviculture firms (including the Irvings) which have been struggling along with the rest of the forestry sector for the last few years.

It is great to see that bigger is not always better.

The story old-school hog farming stages a comeback, about Russ Kremer and the Ozark Mountain Pork co-operative, is a fabulous demonstration that quality and sustainable agriculture can succeed and overcome the mindset that bigger and “more efficient” is always the best.

I don’t think that it is difficult to argue that higher quality and better tasting food can be made by using more humane and caring practices. The question is are people willing to pay more for better tasting food and for food that is produced or grown using more sustainable methods?

Are you willing to pay more for items such as free range chickens and eggs or for organic foods?

New Brunswick Open Farm Day for 2008 has been scheduled for September 21st, 2008.

Open Farm Day

Every year in the fall, the NB Department of Agriculture and Aquaculture, along with the agricultural alliance of NB with support from the Sobey’s supermarket chain have an Open Farm Day. In the spirit of Doors Open, this is an opportunity for the public to tour and get a glimpse of operating farms and food related operations. It also allows the public to gain an appreciation for the food chain and how some of the food arrives at the table.

There are several interesting farms which will be opened to visitor for guided tours and open discussions.

St. George

A new tour being given this year at Open Farm Days are will be boat tours of salmon aquaculture pens in the Bay of Funday near St. George. The New Brunswick Salmon Growers Association is hosting these tours and there will be two tours departing at 1pm and 3pm. Reservations are available.

Sussex Area

Ara-li Acres which is a horse breeding hobby farm north of Sussex. Tours of the farm and of the farm’s Morgan horses will be available to the public.

Waldow Farms Ltd. a dairy farm with 160 milking cows and a total of 360 to 400 animals will be giving tours of their farm and allow the public to watch the cows being milked.

Sussex will have two activities as the Agricultural Museum in Sussex will be giving free museum tours from 12:00 until 4:00 and there will also be New Brunswick beef expo at the Princess Louise Show Centre.

Motts Landing Vineyard will be giving tours of their 6 acre vineyard near Cambridge-Narrows.

Moncton Area

Speaking of wine, Magnetic Hill Winery will be giving winery tours as well as conducting sampling sessions.

In Memramcook, the Bourgeois farm will have winery tours as well as have a U-pick operation at its apple and fruit orchard.

Glarro Farm in Petitcodiac will have wagon rides and farm tours of their beef farm

Fredericton Area

Scott’s Nursery one of the largest nurseries in New Brunswick with over 6 acres of greenhouses will be conducting tours of its operations throughout the day.

Coburn Farms in Keswick will be conducting tours of its egg, grain and cider operations throughout the afternoon.

One of Atlantic Canada’s first certified organic farms Good Spring Farm will have tours of their poultry and vegetable operations.

The Apple Bin is a store located in Keswick Ridge which sells exclusively New Brunswick produce and farm products will have an exhibition on Canadian Heritage apple and potato displays as well as having fresh local produce for sale.

Donnelly Holsteins near Lake George milks 42 Holstein cows and will have tours of the farm as well as walking trails into nearby woods.

Schotanus Farm near Hanwell will have demonstrations on planting tulips as well as honey bees, small fruits and apples.

Everett Orchard in Island View on route 102 is a 7 acres apple orchard which will have a U-Pick opened up for families and the rest of the interested public.

The Double Oord dairy farm in Springfield on route 615 will have tours of its farm as well as milking demonstrations of its 100 head cattle herd.

In Hoyt, New Brunswick (just south of Fredericton on the 101) is Freshet Farms which is a 200 acres dairy farm will have tours. They also have an onsite playground.

Others farms and more info

There are other farms and food producers involved in Open Farm Day in the Upper Saint John river valley and northern New Brunswick.

For more info, there is a PDF available with a map of locations and more details on each farm at http://fermenbfarm.ca/uploads//Website_Assets/AANB_Map_NB.pdf

The map can also be found at local Sobeys supermarkets in New Brunswick.

If you are looking for some lemon meringue pie or just about anything else that uses lemons, be prepared to have to hunt it down as you might have a hard time finding it. You might want to get your wallet ready too as a shortage of lemons (and lemon juice) has pushed prices for the fresh fruit up by more than double.

Due to a combination or drought and frost in the primary lemon growing regions of southern Europe, California and Arizona lemon suppliers do not have adequate supplies and the first to feel the shortage seems to be the lemon juice producers.

See: TheStar.com – Lemon juice scarcity sends prices soaring.