DuBreton farms are now certified by the California Animal Care Program (Prop12)

Nov 20, 2023

As a leader in animal welfare, duBreton is proud to announce that they are one of the first companies to be certified and ready for the implementation of California’s Proposition 12 which restricts gestation crate usage and requires 24 square feet of space per sow.

“Today, we take another step forward, since we are not just compliant, but fully audited and ready for California’s Proposition 12, which goes into effect on January 1st, 2024,” declared Vincent Breton, CEO.

DuBreton farms have specialized in animal welfare for decades now, raising crate-free pigs since 2003. Thanks to their USDA Organic, Certified Humane Raised and Handled®, and GAP 5-step certifications, they not only comply with but greatly surpass Prop 12 requirements.

The company has been raising antibiotic-free animals for over 20 years. As an early adopter and promoter of the third-party certification process, they strongly believe that certifications bring enormous value to consumers. “Animal welfare protocols, the use of antibiotics, and farm animal raising practices should not only be words but should become a culture,” Vincent concludes.

Source : Swine Web

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.