I’d like to thank all of you who took part in our annual readership survey. Now more then ever it is important to keep all hog producers informed of the state of the industry. Prairie Hog Country will continue to keep on top of all the latest news affecting Western Canada.

The survey results are representative of the opinions of hog producers scattered across Western Canada. Prairie Hog Country was chosen by producers as their favourite, most informative and most useful source of hog news and information within Western Canada for the twelfth consecutive year.

Over 99% of producers prefer to read Prairie Hog Country for hog related information. All but one of the respondents enjoy the style and format of Prairie Hog Country. Every producer selected good to excellent for the quality of editorial in Prairie Hog Country with over 76% choosing excellent.

Over 79% of respondents were either the primary or co-decision makers. All but one of the surveys said Prairie Hog Country covers all areas of the hog industry fairly. Seventy-three per cent of producers found advertisements within Prairie HogCountry do influence their purchasing decisions, with one producer adding the comment “they greatly influence him.” Eighty percent search through the magazine for specific products or services. Eighty-six per cent found inserts valuable. Seventy-seven percent have the 2008 calendar posted in a visible area.

Only 32% of respondents are currently using the internet as a source of agricultural information. When producers were asked – What changes or modifications would you like to see in Prairie Hog Country? Majority stated they like magazine as is, no changes, enjoy as is, keep up the good work and would not change a most valuable magazine. There also was a request for a few stories, which we will try and include in upcoming editions.

Our goal is to keep you, the producers informed and enlightened throughout the year. I am grateful for the producers who listed any comments. We look forward to providing you with a lot of exciting feature stories in the years ahead. I thank you for all your comments and suggestions, as they all can only assist in improving Prairie Hog Country. Please feel free to contact us at any time with any letters, story ideas or general comments on Prairie Hog Country.

– – Laurie Brandly