Little Things Done Right Add Up

Nov 18, 2024

The Manager of Knowledge Transfer with the Prairie Swine Centre says, when it comes to management, little things done right add up.Taking Care of Basics, Measuring on-farm best management practices was among the topics discussed as part of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2024 in Saskatoon.

Ken Engele, the Manager of Knowledge Transfer with the Prairie Swine Centre, says two surveys of pork producers conducted by Prairie Swine Center and CDQP in partnership with Swine Innovation Porc, looked at all phases of production.

Quote-Ken Engele-Prairie Swine Centre:

There are probably 15 different sectors that we looked at so it was an all-encompassing project that we tried to take a look at.Some of the main features or outcomes that we found is, making sure you are adjusting nipple drinkers and was water use management is one important driving factor throughout it.Feed always has been, always will be the single biggest item in the cost of production so feeder design, feeder management, feeder adjustment, that sort of thing is consistently important.

It's the day-to-day things that you're doing on farm that on an individual basis don't seem that exciting.You don't necessarily see the importance of it but it's like the example I provided.There's lots of singles, few home runs.You do everything right all the time and there is a cumulative effect that is bigger than what you think it is, so one plus one is no longer two, it's three.

You get the added benefit of doing all those little things right all the time, the cumulative effect is far greater than anything on its own individual basis.
Then there's enrichment.Enrichment is one of those things that there's lots of added benefits.There are other presentations at symposium that have shown there's a positive economic return to enrichment as well so there's a positive economic return plus the welfare of the animal is improved as well.

Engele says producers know what best management practices are but things can get lost in day-to-day activities as the

Source : Farmscape.ca

Video: Understanding the Basics of the Renewable Fuel Standard

On Friday, April 24, 2026, from 12 noon–1:00 ET, the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, alongside the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s (PDA) Agricultural Business Development Center (ABDC), presented this webinar in the Understanding Agricultural Law Educational Series, a course designed to develop subject matter literacy and competence on fundamental issues of agricultural law for attorneys and business advisors who work with or represent agricultural or rural clients but may not necessarily specialize in agricultural law:

“Understanding the Basics of the Renewable Fuel Standard”

The Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, or advanced biofuels. Established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and later expanded by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the RFS is implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

This webinar provides an overview of the legal authority and structure for the RFS program and explain how it works, including the program’s system of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) and categories of renewable fuels. Additionally, this webinar addresses EPA annual volume requirement rulemaking and associated recent legal issues.