Alberta Pork Congress
The 52nd annual Alberta Pork Congress will be held at Westerner Park in Red Deer June 10th & 11th.
In addition to the two day trade show Alberta Pork Congress is happy host the awards banquet dinner Wednesday June 10th and plus join us for lunch before we depart on Thursday June 11th.
Some onsite Wednesday Lunch & Banquet and Thursday BBQ tickets may be available. Check with registration desk.
For more details and information contact Kate Kelly, at 403.542.7906 or email her at kate@albertaporkcongress.com •.
Hutterite Manufacturing & Associate Expo
The Hutterite Manufacturing & Associate Expo is a unique shopping experience where you can find a variety of household, farming, and building supplies made with unbeatable quality.
From farming supplies including kitchen and bath cabinets, metal fabrication, metal roofing and siding, and so much more! This is a must-visit event for DIY enthusiasts, contractors, and homeowners alike.
Will take place at the Red River Exhibition Park in Winnipeg August 13th & 14th, 2026. For details contact Alana Fehr at 204.888.6990 ext 109 or C: 204.383.0040 or
email: alana@redriverex.com •
Red Deer Swine Technology Workshop
Save the date for Red Deer Swine Technology Workshop which will be held Wednesday October 7th at Westerner Park. Registration will open in August.
Some of the topics on the agenda are: Wild Boar Control Program, Empowering Teams for Workplace Success, Workplace Safety, Is Biosecurity Worth it, plus more. Watch your inbox for more details. •
Alberta Livestock Expo
Keep October 14th and 15th open for the Alberta Livestock Expo in Lethbridge. As of press time the ALE was sold out. To be added to the potential floor plan expansion list contact Sarah.
For details, sponsorship opportunities and more information please check the website at www.albertalivestockexpo.com or email sarah@evergreen-events.ca or call Sarah at 403.393.2120 •
Aherne Awards
Do you know of an innovator who should be recognized? Someone who has developed an original solution to answer a pork production challenge? Or found a creative use of a known technology?
The Banff Pork Seminar is proud to offer a chance for you to “strut your stuff” as a technology innovator and show the rest of us how to put it into practice!
The Dr. FX Aherne Prize for Innovative Pork Production recognizes innovators involved in the pork industry who are making a difference by applying new technologies or management techniques.
Innovators can win valuable prizes and free registration to the 2027 Banff Pork Seminar, January 5-7; you’ll be recognized by your peers and the pork industry and have a chance to present your solution at the 2027 Banff Pork Seminar.
Please nominate yourself, or apply on behalf of an innovator that deserves to be recognized. Help us to find these innovators and encourage them to apply for the Dr. FX Aherne Prize for Innovative Pork Production.
Specifically, we are looking for innovators who are capable of taking a new research concept, a technology, or even a management concept and apply it successfully in the production of pork. Innovations may be related to, but are not limited to, one of the following areas: Productivity, Profitability, Working Conditions, Animal Well Being, Reduced Environmental Impact, Pork Quality and Safety.
Anyone who has developed a solution to a pork production challenge may enter. Innovations must be relevant to North American pork production but do not necessarily have to be currently in use in Canada at the time of application.
Application and more information will be available online at www.banffpork.ca. Applications must be received by October 30, 2026. Apply today! Please contact Conference Coordinator Ashely Steeple at pork@ualberta.ca with questions. •
Saskatchewan Pork Symposium
If marking your calendars for all the events in 2026, another one to pencil in is Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium. The two day event is planned for November 3rd & 4th. More details will be available in the months and issues to come. •
Alberta Pork AGM
Save the date for the Alberta Pork Congress Annual General Meeting Thursday November 19th, at the Double Tree by Hilton in Calgary. More details will be available once date is closer. •
Prairie Livestock Expo
The Prairie Livestock Expo will take place at the Victoria Inn & Conference Centre Wednesday December 16th. Registration will open soon. •
Banff Pork Seminar
For those that plan ahead, save the date for Banff Pork Seminar 2027, taking place January 5th -7th at the Castle in the Rockies the Banff Springs Hotel. Most current details are available on the website banffpork.ca
The block of rooms at the Banff Springs will open in later this month. •
Canadian Meat Council Meetings
The President & CEO Kyle Larkin of CMC, was on Parliament Hill recently with colleagues from the Canadian Pork Council, Canola Council of Canada, Fisheries Council of Canada, and Pulse Canada, meeting with key decision-makers to discuss the importance of the Canada-China trade relationship to Canadian meat processors
We thanked government officials and their colleagues for their work in gaining the re-introduction of Canadian beef access to China, a market that could regrow to $200-$300 million in exports a year.
We also highlighted the punitive 25% tariffs that continues to impact Canadian pork exports to China and the need for their removal. Since the introduction of tariffs, pork processors have lost approximately $175 million and continue to incur a loss in sale value.
Thank you to Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Indira Anand, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Kody Blois, MPs Chris d’Entremont, Clifford Small, Michael Chong, the office of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada/ Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada, Deputy Minister for International Trade Glenn Purves, and Senior Diplomatic and International Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister David Morrison for taking the time.
We look forward to continuing the conversation on permanently removing tariffs and non-tariff barriers for Canadian meat exports in China and beyond. •
Canadian Pork Council on Trade
Canadian pork producers rely on fair and predictable trade, just as global markets rely on access to high-quality, affordable food.
When trade agreements don’t deliver real, reciprocal access, the impact goes beyond exports. Ongoing non-tariff and phytosanitary barriers in the UK continue to limit Canadian pork exports, creating real economic losses for producers and increasing the need for effective business risk management.
Recently, CPC leadership appeared before the Senate Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee to raise these concerns as part of its study on the United Kingdom’s accession to the CPTPP.
Our message is simple: trade needs to work both ways. That means addressing unnecessary barriers, ensuring commitments are enforced, and supporting producers facing increased market risk.
We are calling on the federal government to engage with UK counterparts to eliminate these barriers, uphold science-based trade principles, and ensure that Canadian pork producers are not adversely affected by uneven market access. •
African Swine Fever Outbreaks Increase in Pigs and Wild Boar
Across the EU
As recently reported by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In 2025, African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks increased across the European Union in both domestic pigs (+76%) and wild boar (+44%) compared to 2024, according to EFSA’s latest annual epidemiological report. The disease reemerged in Spain after 31 years without detections, raising the number of affected Member States to 14.
Last year, the EU carried out record levels of ASF surveillance, analysing over 518,000 samples from domestic pigs and 618,000 samples from wild boar. Passive surveillance detected 84% of ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs and 73% of outbreaks in wild boar. EFSA’s scientists recommend that affected Member States continue to prioritise this type of approach in their monitoring efforts.
In Domestic pigs, EU Member States detected 585 ASF outbreaks last year, a 76% increase compared with 2024. Despite this rise, the number remained lower than the levels recorded every year between 2018 and 2023, with the exception of 2022.
The increase was largely driven by Romania, which accounted for 81% of all EU outbreaks during 2025. Further increases were reported in Croatia, Estonia and Latvia.
Most outbreaks (91%) occurred in establishments with fewer than 100 pigs. A clear summer peak was observed, although in some Member States this peak was less pronounced but more prolonged than in previous years.
In Wild boar, ASF outbreaks in wild boar reached their highest level (11,036) in the EU since 2021. This represents a 44% increase compared with 2024 (7,677). Poland accounted for nearly one in three outbreaks (31%).
Spanish authorities reported the first ASF outbreaks in wild boar since 1995 in Catalonia. Genetic analysis did not find a close match with any known ASF strains currently circulating in Europe, and no source of introduction was identified. Another translocation event was also detected in Germany.
In several countries, such as Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, a clear winter peak in wild boar outbreaks was observed, while no consistent seasonal pattern was evident in other Member States.
During 2025, successful regional campaigns to control the disease in wild boar populations took place in Czechia and in southern Italy. •
Pork Industry Calls
for Overhaul of Risk Programs
Canada’s pork industry is pushing for changes to Business Risk Management programs – arguing current federal programs are no longer keeping pace with modern realities.
Speaking at a recent federal agriculture committee hearing, Canadian Pork Council Chair René Roy laid out a case for change, tying together business risk management programs, biosecurity threats, and global market pressures.
Roy told committee members that Canada’s ability to feed itself must not be taken for granted.
He told MPs that Canada’s ability to reliably produce food is tied directly to national resilience—especially in an era of geopolitical instability and climate change.
Roy is urging policymakers to treat agriculture as essential infrastructure and build long-term support to protect it.
At the center of the conversation are Canada’s Business Risk Management (BRM) programs, which include tools like AgriStability and the Advance Payments Program (APP).
Roy added these programs are no longer aligned with the realities of pork production:
- Hog producers face high volatility in prices and inputs
• Farms are larger and more capital-intensive
• Cash flow needs have risen sharply
One key ask: increasing AgriStability coverage to 90% and raising program caps to reflect the scale of modern operations.
The pork industry’s message to Ottawa is clear: Canada’s agricultural risk framework must evolve.
For producers, the issue is not simply about program tweaks—it’s about ensuring the sector remains viable in a world of rising volatility, tighter margins, and growing global uncertainty.
As Roy concluded, agriculture should be treated for what it truly is: essential infrastructure for the nation. •
Meat Weight Shortage Found Again
Loblaws and Sobeys, Canada’s largest supermarket chains, were caught back in Mid April once again been discovered by CBC News charging too much for meats.
The issue is including the weight of packaging in prices, a practice that breaks Canadian rules which are supposed to be enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
After CBC’s shoppers found similar weight issues last year the grocers said they had taken steps to rectify pricing.
“People are getting ripped off,” said Terri Lee, a former inspector with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Lee, who spent 24 years with the federal food regulator before retiring in 2021, estimates mis-weighed meat costs Canadian shoppers millions of dollars a year.
“Obviously, these retail stores are not to be trusted that the weight on the package is accurate,” she is quoted by CBC News.
Over the past two months, CBC visited 17 Loblaw-owned or Sobeys-affiliated stores in the Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax areas, targeting packaged fresh meat sold by weight.
In all, CBC purchased and documented 32 underweight meat products from seven stores: two Safeways and a Thrifty Foods in North Vancouver (owned by Sobeys); two Farm Boys in the Greater Toronto Area (owned by Sobeys’ parent company, Empire); and two Real Canadian Superstores in the Halifax area (owned by Loblaw).
The CFIA is also responsible for inspecting scales at meat-packing plants used in calculating what’s owed to farmers. •
— By Jim Romahn
Sask Pork Offers New Transport Biosecurity Tool to all Swine Farms in the Province
Sask Pork is entering a partnership with Farm Health Guardian, providing digital transport biosecurity technology to all commercial swine farms in the province. The organization represents over 140 swine farms in Saskatchewan and is offering the software system as part of its ongoing commitment to enhance biosecurity and disease prevention.
“We’re pleased to provide this technology to help producers improve biosecurity and protect their herds from disease across Saskatchewan,” says Mark Ferguson, Sask Pork General Manager. “Having real-time truck movement data for swine farms can help protect healthy animals and speed up response time in the event of a disease outbreak.”
Truck GPS data and geofencing technology will be used for the province’s commercial swine farms. Third-party vehicles, including feed trucks, maintenance vehicles, live haul trailers, and delivery trucks, will all be linked to the Farm Health Guardian software, creating a comprehensive, real-time view of movement across these farms. Trucks that do not already have GPS can purchase devices directly from Farm Health Guardian to become part of the network.
“Today’s integrated pork production systems are highly connected by people and vehicles that move frequently between sites,” says Adam Black, Farm Health Guardian Customer Success Rep. “This means that managing biosecurity and disease risk is even more critical and yet more complex. Farm Health Guardian addresses this challenge by monitoring and digitizing movements between farms to identify risks and respond quickly when issues arise.”
Given that Saskatchewan exports roughly 80% of the hogs it produces, demonstrating effective disease surveillance and containment is key for maintaining future market access. Increasingly, countries importing pork can be assured that producers can quickly detect, trace, and contain diseases confidently.
“Adding Farm Health Guardian as a digital biosecurity tool will help ensure Saskatchewan’s swine sector remains viable and sustainable well into the future,” Ferguson said.
The service is expected to be available to producers by August 2026. •
Feds Announce up to $6.25 Million for
Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network
Canadian agri-businesses are leading the way in creating new solutions to reduce emissions and make agriculture more resilient. The Government of Canada is supporting this effort by working with Canadian non-for-profit agtech organizations to help science-focused small- and medium-sized businesses develop innovative technologies that grow the economy, while protecting the environment.
Recently, the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced support of up to $6,250,000 in funding for the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) under the Agricultural Clean Technology Program Research and Innovation Stream – Accelerator (ACT Accelerator).
This investment is part of the full $30 million distributed through ACT Accelerator. CAAIN is one of six not-for-profit organizations that will fund projects that advance the development of clean technology for adoption in agriculture across Canada. Also recently, Danielle Martin, Member of Parliament for University – Rosedale, announced the full ACT Accelerator investment of up to $30 million, on behalf of the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
With support from ACT Accelerator, CAAIN will further distribute funding to Canadian companies through its Clean Agtech Validation and Integration Program. This will expand CAAIN’s smart farm network and focus on technologies that are already advanced, helping move them to the final stages before full use. It will also improve how these technologies are tested on farms, making it easier for farmers to trust and adopt them. Additionally, CAAIN will help these companies grow by offering support, mentorship, and access to a strong network.
This ACT Accelerator investment will help ensure that Canadian producers and agri-food businesses have access to a wider range of advanced technologies, contributing to a more competitive and climate-friendly sector. •
The Canada Pork new Pick Pork Website is Live!
Looking for meal inspiration, cooking tips, nutritional information, or the perfect pork cut for your next recipe?
The Pick Pork website was designed to make it easier than ever for consumers to discover the flavour, versatility, and value of Canadian pork.
From quick weeknight meals to dishes made for sharing, the new platform brings together everything Canadians need to feel inspired in the kitchen.
This is another step forward in helping connect consumers with Canadian pork in a fresh, engaging, and accessible way.
Explore the new website at: https://pickpork.ca/ •
Canada Eyes Free Trade Pacts with
Philippines, ASEAN This Year
Canada Pork reports that Canada expects to conclude free trade agreements with the Philippines and the wider Southeast Asian bloc this year, as Ottawa seeks to boost business ties with the region and grow its non-U.S. trade. “Negotiations are really going well,” visiting Canadian International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said in an interview in early May, after meeting with Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Roque and Finance Secretary Frederick Go.
Sidhu said Canada is also joining the Luzon Economic Corridor, a project backed by the U.S. and Japan and where Ottawa is putting in $2 million. “It sends a signal to the Canadian businesses out there that want to look at investing in the Luzon Economic Corridor that Canada’s skin is in the game.”Potential investments include data center, logistics and energy, he said. In pursuing free trade with the Philippines, Canada is looking at Manila’s expanding middle class, which bodes well with its agriculture exports, according to the minister.
Canada and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed to start free trade talks in late 2021, when “the world was in a different place,” Sidhu said. Prime Minister Mark Carney is committed to diversifying the nation’s trading partners and there’s a political will to conclude the Canada-Asean FTA, he added. Carney last year laid out a strategy to double Canada’s exports to markets outside the U.S. within a decade to net an extra $300 billion in trade. •
U.S. Pork Exports Poised to Continue
Outpacing Chicken and Beef
The National Hog Farmer recently reported, in 2024, U.S. pork exports surpassed chicken exports for the first time since 1976, and this development is projected to continue through 2035. Steady growth in U.S. pork production, driven by a combination of increasing slaughter weights, rising numbers of pigs per litter, and higher inventories underlie the continued growth in exports. Environmental policies in the European Union are expected to impact the region’s pork production and reduce EU export growth, enhancing U.S. competitiveness.
U.S. pork exports are projected to increase 8.6% from an expected 7.2 billion pounds in 2026 to a projected 7.8 billion pounds by 2035. By 2029, U.S. pork exports are expected to surpass the previous record of 7.3 billion pounds set in 2020, when China’s import demand spiked at the height of their African swine fever epidemic. •
Jefo Recognized for 11th Year
Jefo, a global leader in high-performance non-medicated nutritional solutions for animals, has been recognized amongst Canada’s Best Managed Companies for the eleventh year in a row. Jefo has once again been awarded the Platinum Club member designation in this prestigious award program for the fifth year. •
Keep up with the latest events, trades shows, meetings, workshops etc, by watching Pork Chops.
Contains dates, details and contact information. •
