4 October 2025 TOP: CHATSWORTH FARM | MIDDLE: QUINN FARM | BOTTOM: VILOGSIGN - ADOBE STOCK 5 www.SmallFarmCanada.ca TOP: ADOBE FIREFLY | BOTTOM: PETRRGOSKOV - ADOBE STOCK Hello Julie, I hope your week is off to a wonderful start! It’s been a while since Alberta Open Farm Days, and we are still buzzing with excitement and gratitude. Thank you so much for your support of this year’s event at Chatsworth Farm, your support truly helped make it such a success. This year, our farm welcomed more than 650 visitors (a new record) from across Alberta, Saskatchewan, BC, Newfoundland, and even as far away as England, Wales, and Germany. We were also honoured to host numerous members of the County of Vermilion River Council plus the Economic Development Officer, Town of Vermilion Council, Town of Vermilion CAO and her family, as well as our local MLA, further underscoring the importance of this event within our community and beyond. In addition, we were thrilled to be featured as front-page news in our local newspaper, and several media outlets covered our event. All interviews and media features will be linked on our website and posted soon. We are so grateful for your sponsorship and for believing in the importance of connecting people to agriculture. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about the day or the report. I will be “out of office” from September 6th–11th attending the Canadian Cattle Young Leaders competition in Quebec City. The success of our Open Farm Days was a major factor in my being selected as a semi-finalist in this national program, and I’ll be competing for a finalist spot at the event. Many, many thanks, Charlotte W., Chatsworth Farm, Vermillion, AB ANTIBIOTICS USED IN FOOD-ANIMAL PRODUCTION LINKED TO RESISTANCE IN PEOPLE New research suggests that a class of antibiotics commonly used in poultry (and other livestock), but not in people, could contribute to antibiotic-resistant infections in humans. The antibiotic class is ionophores. They are used to treat coccidiosis in poultry and to promote growth and prevent disease in pigs and cattle. Ionophores are one of several classes of antibiotics used in food-animal production that are considered non-medically important because they aren’t used in human medicine, due to toxicity. Regulated less strictly than medically important antibiotics, ionophore use is significant in livestock and poultry. A study published in mSphere from Carleton University in Ottawa revealed that ionophore use could co-select for resistance to medically important antibiotics. They found that bacteria carrying genes that promote resistance to ionophores are widespread and present in both animals and people and carry multiple resistance genes to medically important antibiotics. “That really suggests that the assumption that ionophore use in animals is safe for humans is not a good assumption,” senior study author Alex Wong, PhD said. “We’re accidentally selecting for resistance to drugs that are important to humans. So, this is an issue we think we need to pay more attention to than we have.” Source: Chris Dall for ProMED-AMR A major Canadian research initiative is giving turkey and other poultry producers insights into how highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) spreads – and what they can do to better protect their farms without harming the environment. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are collaborating on a research project to identify how HPAI is spreading, the role wildlife plays in this spread, and on-farm risk management strategies that producers can employ. The key being what can farmers do without harming the environment. HPAI outbreaks have had a devastating impact on domestic poultry but also on wild bird populations. For turkey farmers, who have been overrepresented in infection numbers, this means a clearer understanding on how to minimize risk. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) research scientist Dr. Jennifer Provencher is co-leading the effort with ECCC colleagues and Carleton University. They will study how biodiversity and landscape features may contribute to HPAI outbreaks. “What’s changed is the scale and impact of this virus on wild birds,” she says. “We’re seeing wild and migratory bird mortality events across Canada – dead seabirds on beaches, dead geese in the Prairies – which is why Environment and Climate Change Canada are now involved with a whole response team to look at how HPAI transmits across the landscape.” Avian Influenza transmission to domestic flocks has been anecdotally linked to wetlands and the presence of wild birds – such as barn swallows, but Provencher notes that there is no real evidence to suggest these links actually exist or are behind on-farm infections. Source: Canadianpoultrymag.com MYTH BUSTING AVIAN INFLUENZA WITH RESEARCH NEWS & NOTES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Elwood and Pam are each longtime farmers and directors of Heritage Livestock Canada. - Julie Julie, I’ll tell you a little side story about my favourite Shropshire ewe, the cute nut-brown face with hay stuck on it. When she was almost one year old in 2016 she suddenly fell terribly ill. 2015 had been a severe drought in Ontario, similar to this year, though some say this one is even worse. Elwood can explain the plant physiology best, but basically if their food source is stressed it can sometimes cause problems to the animal due to lack of nutrients. She was the only one in a flock of 12 yearlings but nonetheless she reacted, with barely a pulse left. I spoke with Reuben, my vet here in Manitoba, and he said to immediately get a huge amount of B1 (Thiamine) into her. Elwood’s vet wasn’t available, so he opted for a bottle of tablets from Shoppers Drug Mart. He crushed the entire bottle and dissolved them in water, syringing the mixture down her throat. I believe he repeated this a few hours later and again the next day. The next morning she was standing up on her feet chewing her cud, a major sign of recovery! She never looked back except her sight was affected quite severely. We noticed there would almost always be a ewe on either side of her, especially when feeding. So if you ever hear people say animals don’t have compassion, dismiss it! She went on to conceive, never failed, giving Elwood twins every year & occasionally triplets. Her sight actually recovered or at least enough that her independence returned. She passed a couple of years ago sadly, having given us some lovely lambs & a heartwarming story. I still give Reuben gifts of local meat when I see him & his wife Yvette, also a vet though both retired now. Pam H., Heritage Livestock Canada, Nesbitt, MB Thanks Connor, we have updated SFC’s list of Canadian Meaderies! If you have a meadery we have missed, contact editor@SmallFarmCanada.ca.
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