Rick Bergmann
Rick Bergmann, AGvocate, past chair of the Canadian Pork Council, vice-chair of the Manitoba Pork Council, and president of Buckingham Ag in Steinbach, MB, highlighted innovative solutions for producers transitioning to loose housing.“Canadian producers have to find a way to go to loose housing,” Bergmann explained at Prairie Livestock Expo. While electronic sow
Top place honours a repeat of 2022 to Starlite Colony.
The popular Pork Quality Competition returned to this year’s Prairie Livestock Expo in mid-December in Winnipeg, MB, with record participation—46 carcasses from 23 entrants across Manitoba. The event combines friendly competition with meaningful support for causes like Siloam Mission, Harvest Manitoba, and other charities backed
Dr. Jen Yun Chou
The Prairie Swine Centre is prioritizing more research to help Canadian pork producers adapt to upcoming changes to the Pig Code of Practice. Dr. Jen-Yun Chou, appointed Research Scientist in Ethology at the centre in March 2024, is building on the foundational work of Drs. Yolande Seddon, Jenifer Brown, and Harold
The National Hog Farmer recently broke the news that Germany has confirmed its first Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in over four decades, detected in a herd of water buffalo. Although pigs are not currently affected, FMD is a highly contagious disease that spreads rapidly among cloven-hoofed animals, often leading to widespread culling. The
Manitoba Pork’s General Manager, Cam Dahl, called on federal and provincial governments to collaborate with the pork sector to develop a strategy addressing critical trade access issues as the industry looks ahead to 2025.For Manitoba’s hog industry, 2024 marked a significant improvement over the preceding years. More substantial prices for hogs, notable gains in
Paul de Rond, with washer
Washing pig barns is one of barn workers’ most demanding and strenuous jobs. From scrubbing pens and stalls to cleaning walls and floors, this essential task is physically exhausting and critical for maintaining bio-security and keeping diseases out. Despite its importance in ensuring animal health and welfare, the repetitive and
The Canadian hog industry Code of Practice requires all producers to convert all farms to group sow housing by 2029, and progress is being steadily made toward this goal.Canadian Pork Council executive director Stephen Heckbert said as the sector prepares, the main priority is long-term economic viability and the best way to ensure no
(L-R)Kathleen Long, Maple Leaf Foods; Karolina Steinerova, Sask Pork & also a PhD student in the NSERC IRC research Chair program, Yvan Fréchette, Les Éleveurs de porcs du Québec; Javier Bahamon, Alberta Pork; Yolande Seddon, Chair, WCVM; Blaine Tully, PremierSHP, member of Swine Veterinary Partners; Gillian Muir, Dean, WCVM; Grant Melynchuck, Manitoba Pork; René
SIP panelists Yolande Seddon, Chantal Farmer and Martin Nyachoti
A national organization dedicated to pork research from farm to fork is midway through a cluster involving 15 projects at a total investment of just over $20 million. Since its establishment in 2010, Swine Innovation Porc has invested over $71 million in 75 large-scale projects involving
Jen Yun Chou
The ethology and welfare research scientist Prairie Swine Centre has recruited to replace Jennifer Brown brings, quite literally, a world of experience.Jen-Yun Chou, originally from Taiwan, was introduced to Western Canada’s swine production leaders as an animal welfare session speaker at Banff Pork Seminar in January. That is, she was introduced to
