But unlike their beef, sheep and cropping counterparts, the dairy sector is looking good, with international dairy prices "higher than anyone can remember" However, rising ancillary costs, such as fuel, and having to pay a minimum wage, has left the retail industry "a bit of a mixed blessing", Mr Albertson says. That will cost 350 jobs in the company, and approximately 20 suppliers and contractors at smaller firms around South Auckland will be affected over the next year. Federated...

Proponents of cloned meat say there s no difference between a t-bone steak from black Angus copy number 8,990,909 and a t-bone steak from black Angus cattle born of Elsie and Gus. FDA asserts that goat s milk and cheese from clones are safe even though it has no data whatsoever on the composition of milk and meat from cloned goats. Still, the momentum seems to be on the side of the livestock industry, says the May 4 issue of BusinessWeek, which has followed the issue closely. Defects in...

He married his wife, Jodi, in 1977 while in college, studying agriculture education with thoughts of becoming an agriculture teacher, but chose instead to help her father farm and ranch near Big Timber, Mont. The Prairie Star: Producer Progress The Prairie Star. Today they operate as a diversified cow calf and dry land farming operation with nearly 3000 acres of hay, and wheat in a continuous cropping and minimum tillage system that reduces erosion and works well to provide crop aftermath...

A recent check turns up at least three basic brands of skim milk, 2 percent, and Vitamin D milk in gallon plastic jugs and smaller containers. But why should the consumer pay a premium price for this milk? Whats the advantage of drinking milk from Prairieland cows that have been selected and segregated at Firth because their genetics make them produce a2 beta-casein almost exclusively? Prentice chooses his words carefully. A recent check turns up at least three basic brands of skim milk, 2...

Angus cannot only tell you the name of the piece of Highland beef you are buying, but its parents and its grandparents - and if you probe further, he'll even give a character assessment of Hamish the Third. In 2007 we are striving to eat local food which is grown organically with no additives and involving the minimum of "food miles", much like our crannog-dwelling ancestors. Barrie and I cooked the chunks of Highland beef with water, herbs, mushrooms and carrots in an iron cauldron,...