Farm animals and their products are the biggest segment of Canadian agriculture, and certainly a big part of the food chain downstream in supermarkets, restaurants, and on consumers’ kitchen tables.
With the rise of large farms and mass production techniques, animal well-being has become an issue not only for consumers, but also for farmers who depend on the well-being of their livestock in order to be efficient and produce a quality product.
In this episode, Hugh Maynard talks with Jackie Wepruk, Executive Director of the National Farm Animal Care Council, about the care and handling of farm animals.
Sarah Rennie speaks with Jodi Wallace, a world-renowned veterinarian, co-owner of the Ormstown Veterinary Hospital, and dairy farmer at Anderson Farms in Très-Saint-Sacrement. They discuss how animal care in dairy production is evolving and the important role veterinarians play on the farm.
Sarah Rennie also speaks with Doug Bryson, a sixth-generation farmer and start-up chicken producer in Ormstown. Doug produces meat chickens, and they talk about the production cycle, the supply management system and chicken market, animal care, and the ever-present threat of avian flu for poultry producers across the province.
Callan Forrester speaks with Tiffany McNaughton, a part-time farmer who runs Fertile Valley Farm, home to an eclectic collection of animals, offering a small-scale, hands-on perspective.
Together, they discuss what animal care looks like in practice, how standards and ethics translate on the ground, and why livestock well-being matters - for animals, farmers, and the food systems we all rely on.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Farm to Food podcast.
We’d like to thank our sponsors for helping bring this initiative to life: the Livestock Breeders’ Association for providing our studio facilities at the Expo Ormstown fairgrounds, and Quinn Farm in Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot for their promotional support.
We also wish to thank the Community Media Strategic Support Fund and the Government of Canada for their financial support for this project, as well as the Bourses d’initiatives en entrepreneuriat collectif for their contribution toward equipping the podcast studio.
This program is made possible thanks to the dedicated work of the volunteer directors on the board of Châteauguay Valley Community Information Services (CVCIS), a non-profit social enterprise with charitable status. We would love your support to help keep this podcast going.
Donations can be made at farmtofood.ca, and we can issue tax receipts for donations over $25.
Farm to Food Podcast Credits:
Hugh Maynard – Host
Jackie Rourke – Producer
Sarah Rennie – News Editor
Callan Forrester – Reporter
Stacey Pennington – Audio Production
Dianna Chycki, sales & marketing
…and of course, Farmer Phil — who’s farm-tastic!
