Prairie Livestock Expo
The second annual Prairie Livestock Expo will be held on Wednesday December 14th in Winnipeg, MB. Similar to 2014 the Expo will welcome all areas of the livestock industry, however hogs seems to continue to be the largest represented sector.
Prairie Livestock Expo features Canada’s largest pork quality competition. Since the first Pork Quality Competition in 1996 more then $375,000 has been donated to international, national, rural and urban charities such as hospitals, drop-in centres and childrens organizations. Plus more then 45,000 kg’s of top quality pork has been donated to Manitoba’s food banks.
This one day show will be at the Victoria Inn and Conference Centre adjacent the airport from 9 am – 6 pm. The Expo will feature various speakers at the New and Emerging Research Session. Plus the new 4-H student personal experience speaking session.
For details and information contact Dallas Balance at 204.475.8585 or email dallas@goodwinballance.ca •
Banff Pork Seminar
January 10-12, 2017 will be the 46th installment of the annual Banff Pork Seminar, once again to take place at the Castle in the Rockies.
The agenda is available online at banffpork.ca Keynote speakers will include Dr Frank Mitloehner, Sandra Vijn, Terry O’Reilly and Dr Joe Schwarcz. Followed by many interesting breakout sessions. Thursday concludes with the ever popular Kevin Grier and Steve Meyer with a market outlook and economic update.
A block of rooms has been set aside at the Banff Springs Hotel, reserve yours today.
On line registration now open. Go to banffpork.ca For more details or information contact Ashley Steeple, Conference Coordinator, Banff Pork Seminar. Phone 780.492.3651, Email: pork@ualberta.ca Website: www.banffpork.ca •
Manitoba Swine Seminar
Plans are well underway for the 31st annual Manitoba Swine Seminar, which will take place in Winnipeg February 1 & 2, 2017 at the Victoria Inn & Conference Centre.
The theme for 2017 is “Sharing Ideas and Information for Efficient Pork Production.” Featured speakers will focus their presentations on topics such as “precision production and feeding systems, artificial insemination, vaccine management, alternatives to in-feed antibiotics, and batch farrowing systems.”
Several renowned experts will be participating in this year’s Swine Seminar including: Dr. Grahame Coleman, Dr. Hanneke Feitsma, Mario Lapierre, Dr. Daniel Berckmans, Andrew Dickson, Dr. Alan Mathew and Dr. Martin Nyachoti.
For details and registrations information contact Dallas Ballance conference manager at 204.475.8585 or email dallas@goodwinballance.ca •
Cramer Livestock Expo
The one day trade show will take place Thursday February 16th in Swift Current at Kinetic Park from 8:30 am – 5 pm. back to our routes, continues as theme for the seventh annual. Exhibitors packages are available, as of press time the show over 70% sold out.
Charities will be the big winner in the upcoming third annual sale of champions at the close of Cramer Expo.
Following the same format as last year at after the Cramer Cup winners have been announced. The real winners will be rewarded. The top five carcasses will be auctioned off by a live auction, Brett Jensen from Heartland will be onhand to help with the calling. All funds raised will be donated to Kids Help Phone, a program dedicated to help those youngers who need to somebody to talk to in times of despair. Kids Help Phone allows kids to phone in, go through a mobile app or go on the website and live chat,The services provided by Kids Help Phone are available in all communities, providing any child the opportunity to talk if they want to. They do this confidentially, without judgment, and in the way that suits each one best. A charity very near and dear to Kelly Turcotte, tradeshow co ordinators, heart. In addition to the top five carcasses being auctioned off the top three placing nest eggs will also be open for bidding. Doug Cramer, founder of Cramer Expo, is hoping those in attendance will dig deep in their pockets for this worthy cause.
The charity doesn’t end there, all the meat from the carcasses entered into the competition are divided up and distributed to local charities and food backs. Superior Meats is a great partner in donating the cutting and wrapping of the pork carcasses.
Jason Care grading auditor with Manitoba Pork Council will have the hard job of judging the entered carcasses.
Producers don’t miss out your opportunity to register your carcass(es) for the Cramer Cup competition. Entries are limited. Contact Doug at the office today 306.520.3553 or Kelly 306.737.6262, deadline for entries delivered to Superior Meats is February 14th. For details and information contact tradeshow co ordinator Kelly Turcotte at 306.737.6262 or email kelly_turcotte@hotmail.com •
APC Industry Award Nominations
Now is the time to send in your nominations for the Alberta Pork Congress Industry Awards.
Lifetime Achievement Award (Honours individuals who have played an integral role in advancing the pork industry in Alberta and celebrates their long-term commitment and unwavering dedication to the industry).
Farm Team Award (Recognizes the farm unit which operates in an exemplary manner through commitment and longevity of the staff with virtues of hard work and cooperation, celebrating dedication of the team toward working together for the success of the farm).
Pork Industry Ambassador Award (Honours individuals or companies whose efforts reflect a commitment above and beyond the accepted expectation of the pork industry in Alberta. It recognizes individuals or companies whose actions have become a valuable asset to the pork industry and acknowledges those whose actions have become models for peer recognition).
For more information or to nominate either a individual – team, please contact the Alberta Pork Congress office at 403.244.7821 or Toll Free 1.800.267.9180 or email info@albertaporkcongress.com. Deadline for nominations is January 31st. •
2017 Livestock Care Conference
The 2017 Livestock Care Conference will take place in Leduc, Alberta March 21 & 22, 17 at the Best Western Plus Denham Inn and Suites .
Some topics that will be focused on are painful procedures, practical strategies and new thinking in swine production, moving beyond the five freedoms.
For details on complete agenda, accommodations and on line registration check out the website. www.afac.ab.ca •
Alberta Pork Congress
The dates for the 43rd annual Alberta Pork Congress are June 14 & 15, 2017.
Online registration now open at albertaporkcongress.com
For details or information contact Kate Cheney or Kimberly Nield at 403.244.7821 or email kate@conventionall.com or kimberly@conventionall.com •
World Pork Expo
The annual trade show will take place in Des Moines, IA June 7 – 9, 2017.
Check on line for details and updates www.worldpork.org •
Canada Seeks Trade Talks with U.S.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau says Canada wants to meet with president-elect Donald Trump and with Mexican leaders to discuss trade.
“We have an enormous stake in the success of our relationship with the U.S. and with Mexico: our supply chains are intertwined, we’ve developed a very successful economic unit over the course of the last twenty years,” Morneau said at the London School of Economics.
“We will work with the U.S., and this would go with any U.S. administration, in order to show the benefit of that relationship,” he said. “We expect Mexico will be part of that discussion.”
During the election campaign, Trump repeatedly called the North American Trade Agreement “horrible” and “terrible”. •
— By Jim Romahn
Two New Tools for Hog Industry Employers and Employees
Workloads, liabilities, compensation, changing technologies, increased regulations, rising costs, bottom-line challenges, international markets and communities, and an ever-increasing scrutiny from consumer groups makes raising pigs a huge challenge and finding workers even more difficult.
Janice Goldsborough, the Human Resources and Training Coordinator with Manitoba Pork says a new Hiring Handbook, developed for pork producers, will help them meet the challenges of finding, hiring and retaining workers.
Manitoba Pork recently officially unveiled a new Hiring Handbook to help pork producers with the hiring process and a new Employee Manual for use as a reference for pork workers. People can access the new resources both electronically and in hard copy through Manitoba Pork.
Goldsborough says, in an increasingly competitive market for labour, finding, and hiring people to work in swine barns has become increasingly challenging.
“Most of our independent producers want to hire locally but that’s a big challenge so it provides them with a few suggestions of where else they can look outside of their own little local area but still stay within the province or within Canada before having to look at other resources from outside. I’m hoping that this manual will help them be more confident in their hiring decisions and guide them along the way to hire locally before they have to look globally.” Goldsborough says the Hiring Handbook contains information on where to look for candidates and where to advertise available jobs and includes sample job ads. It also explains the recruitment process, provides tips on conducting the interview including what kinds of questions can and cannot be asked and offers advice on doing reference checks and preparing offer letters.
“All employees should understand their basic rights and what they’re entitled to in the workplace so it covers things like their vacation. How many days of vacation are they allotted per year, statutory holidays. What’s considered a statutory holiday because some of the holidays we think are covered actually may not be,” says the employee manual developer. “It’ll also cover things like, in the workplace, is smoking allowed, lunch breaks, hours of work, whether they’re expected to work shifts, benefits that they might be entitled to. If they feel they’re being harassed, how do they deal with that, privacy policy, all sorts of questions that they might have along the way that they legally have a right to know about.”
Goldsborough says the employee manual is generic but each farm can customize it for their operation. • —
By Harry Siemens
Hypor Kanto Boars Shipped to Spain and Japan to Meet Strong Demand for Premium Pork
Hypor Kanto pigs have been shipped to both Spain and Japan to meet the demand for a Duroc boar that is capable of producing premium pork for both the fresh meat and the processed meat markets.
“The Japanese market and the Iberian market in Spain want high-quality meat for their consumers,” says Hypor Data and Technology Manager José M. Requejo Puerto. “We are convinced that Hypor Kanto can fulfill their needs.” The Hypor Kanto produces exceptional fresh meat that possesses a desirable pink color and high amount of evenly dispersed marbling that makes the pork tender and palatable.
“Meat quality traits are economically important because they affect consumers’ acceptance, which in turn, influences the demand for pigs,” Requejo says. In addition to performing well in the fresh meat market, the Hypor Kanto produces meat that is palatable when processed—frozen or cured.
“Factors such as pH level, water-holding capacity and the absence of anomalous flavors make the Hypor Kanto the ideal boar for producing processed meat,” Requejo says. He explains that both the Iberian and Japanese markets need a boar that can improve the price-performance ratio, uniformity and, standardization of high quality products.
“The Hypor Kanto produces superior meat without excessive fat and without a high feed conversion rate,” he says. “This results in good production efficiency.”
Hypor Kanto Becomes Exclusive Duroc for Ibéricos Vallehermoso, Spain In May 2016 Hypor imported sows and boars from the Hypor nucleus facility Hock n’ Ham in Canada to build up a nucleus facility in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain as part of an exclusive agreement with Ibéricos Vallehermoso. Ibéricos Vallehermoso crosses the Iberian and Duroc lines to produce products such as ham, dried meat, cold meats and cold cuts that are marketed internationally. •
GEA Performance Plus: New Service Concept Ensures Optimum Productivity
Announced recently in Germany, GEA PerformancePlus GEA is offering its customers service level options that extend way beyond routine preventive maintenance and complement customer Industry 4.0 strategic efforts. By combining modern condition monitoring technologies with its industry expertise, GEA provides its customers monitoring services, comprehensive analysis reports and reliable optimization recommendations. In turn, GEA customers receive valuable information to make business decisions easier and addressing challenges they face to achieve their specific performance-related goals. GEA PerformancePlus creates transparency about the current health status of the equipment, increases its availability, ensures optimum productivity, brings efficiency optimization potential to light and enables a sustainable equipment utilization. GEA PerformancePlus enables a speedy evaluation of the opportunities and risks of changing production requirements, orders can be assessed and economically scheduled in turn leading to higher productivity for GEA customers. GEA PerformancePlus will initially be available for GEA separators; on the mid-term it will be extended to other GEA product groups. •
Sustainable Agricultural Production Helps to Promote Food Safety
World Food Day, October 16th, raises debate about the principal challenges in food production. The United Nations (UN) expects the population to grow to more than 9 billion inhabitants on Earth by 2050. Not only will there be more mouths to feed, but nutritional trends and consumer demands have introduced new challenges to agricultural production, especially in Brazil, the fourth-largest producer of food in the world. This conversation gains prominence in October with the celebration of World Food Day , a date that highlights the importance of debating public policies and new technologies related to production.
For Dr. Steven Borst, global director of Alltech Crop Science, a company that supplies natural-based products for agronomy and horticulture, feeding the population both in terms of quantity and quality requires sustainable production practices.
“We need to do this together,” said Borst. “The use of sustainable solutions to improve yields and quality will help us. Food that could have twice the nutritional content found today would influence the quantity of production needed to feed the world.” Some studies have indicated as much as a 40 percent decline in the nutrient value of fruits and vegetables over the last 70 years. For this reason, a pursuit of quantity must not leave behind methodologies that improve the quality of crop yield.
Walter Belik, founder of the Associação Prato Cheio and who is responsible for the food safety division of the Sustainable Development Goals project of the United Nations in Brazil, explains that fulfilling this growing demand without pressuring the environment is one of the main challenges.
“It is not worth it to increase food availability if there is no quality,” said Belik. “It would be a short-term solution, but if we look ahead, it could result in an enormous problem.”
According to Belik, the use of natural products in food production would be complementary to the implementation of new technologies in the field, promoting an increase in crop yields in a balanced way.
“These are clean technologies that can be used to save resources,” added Belik. “We can no longer create models where the balance of energy and the environment is disastrous.” Additionally, healthier eating habits are influencing production at a global level.
“Consumers are demanding to know where, how and what is used in the production of the food they eat,” said Borst. “The result is that producers are beginning to focus on more and more sustainable approaches to production.” •
Idavang Switches to Topigs Norsvin Genetics
Idavang with production in Russia and Lithuania is switching to Topigs Norsvin genetics. The current female genetics will gradually be entirely replaced with Topigs Norsvin TN70 genetics. Idavang will use Topigs Norsvin terminal boars (Talent, Top Pi, Duroc) to answer market needs as well as for production requirements. As a part of the partnership, Idavang will receive support and knowhow from Topigs Norsvin in the fields of breeding, performance management and artificial insemination.
Idavang has chosen Topigs Norsvin for the total package. The TN70 sow brings higher weanability and their offspring have better meat and carcass quality. Improving the total feed efficiency of the production and, in particular, the efficiency of the finishers are also important reasons for choosing Topigs Norsvin as a partner. Lars Christiansen COO of Idavang Lithuania states; ‘’Topigs Norsvin is the ideal genetics partner for us. Not just for the quality of the genetics but also for the support and service.’’ Key Account Manager Bert van Meer of Topigs Norsvin: “We are very proud that Idavang has chosen us as a partner and that we can contribute to Idavang’s success. It underlines the fact our genetics and support appeal to the important pig producers in the world.” •
Porc-Ex Signs New Deal
Porc-Ex Breeding and Genesus Inc. are pleased to announce that Porc-Ex Breeding will begin marketing Genesus Swine Genetics. Porc-Ex Breeding (based in Denmark) has previously used another supplier of swine breeding stock in several European and Asian countries.
“In order to continue the good cooperation that we have built up with our customers worldwide over the past 15 years, Porc-Ex Breeding has signed an exclusive distributor agreement with the Canadian breeding company Genesus, on specific markets,” said Holger B. Sorensen, CEO of Porc-Ex Breeding. “Genesus is the international breeding company which has the most modern and innovative philosophy regarding breeding objectives and sustainability in the pig production. For this reason, this genetic is well qualified to complement those of our DanAvl (Danbred) customers who want, or are forced, to change genetics.”
“As a distributor for Genesus, Porc-Ex Breeding can offer all kinds of genetic products in the form of live animals, semen and embryos. Porc-Ex Breeding has – and will establish close cooperation with leading AI stations, in order to serve our on-farm replacement customers, multiplication- and production herds with the highest quality semen from the Genesus breeding pyramid.”
“In the nearest future, there will be established breeding and multiplication herds in Europe, so that Porc-Ex Breeding can serve our customers with genetic materials, produced locally in the areas near our business partners. At Porc-Ex Breeding, we look forward to continued productive cooperation with our customers, in order to optimize genetics and production results.” •
Chinese Order $37 Million from Canadians
Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay says the 10-day trade junket he led to China yielded $37 million in sales and the potential for another $230 million.
There were about 100 Canadian businesses on the trip that included participation at trade shows in several cities, including Shanghai. •
— By Jim Romahn
FCC Among Best Employers
Farm Credit Canada has made it on this year’s list of best employers in Canada. It’s the second year in a row.
“FCC is a great place to work. Our employees are passionate about agriculture and we care about our customers,” said Michael Hoffort, FCC president and chief executive officer.
“The Aon Hewitt survey represents positive feedback from our employees and is part of our ongoing journey toward keeping everyone focused and engaged in advancing the business of agriculture,” he said.
To be selected for the Platinum level, organizations have to demonstrate strong performance in the areas of employee engagement, leadership, performance culture and employment brand. “When our employees are fully engaged, we create a better work and business environment for everyone, and we are able to contribute in a meaningful way to Canadian agriculture,” Hoffort said. •
New Module for Managing Risk
There’s a new module available to farmers to help manage risks.
It’s likely that profit or loss is going to depend more on farm management that production skills, says Donavon Tofin, founder of the Canadian Farm Learning Centre which worked with Farm Management Canada to develop the new module.
The Managing Risk in Agriculture module provides farmers with the opportunity to assess risks facing their farm business and develop plans to seize opportunity and mitigate the negative effects of uncertainty.
The module includes interactive exercises along with practical analysis and planning tools, say the partners.
“The key process involved in risk management is to think strategically in advance and to manage risk within the framework of a plan; the outcome will support logical and effective decision-making in a timely manner,” says Heather Watson, executive director of Farm Management Canada.
“However, we recognize everyone likes to learn differently and have options available to them for furthering their management skills. “We are pleased to be able to offer this risk assessment and planning tool in this new online learning format.”
The risk mitigation measures outlined will also better prepare a farmer to operate a safer and more efficient farming operation.
Production skills will remain important, but “a better understanding of financial management, farm structures, tax minimization etc. is and will become more critical to successful farm management,” says Tofin.
For more information on the program, and to register for the online module, please visit: www.canadianfarmlearningcentre.com/courses/risk-management . •
— By Jim Romahn
Feds Invest $6 Million in Genome Projects
The federal government has announced $6 million to fund six genome research projects for agriculture.
One is research by Dr. Claude Robert of Universite Laval to improve pork quality and production efficiency.
He is working with Olymel and Hylife in conjunction with the Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement. Another $13 million is on the table for other genome projects for agriculture. •
— By Jim Romahn
Clarification
In the October/November edition of Prairie Hog Country a article appeared on page on page 22 titled Spring Creek Colony Becomes Among First Major Swine Farms in Canadian Prairies to ship RWA hogs.
Although this piece was submitted, PHC wanted to clarify that by no means achieving and maintaining RWA status is a easy task. Quite the opposite, it take years of hard work and dedication to accomplish this. There are others in the industry whom have been doing this quietly on the side lines for years, choosing to retain low key.
Once again Prairie Hog Country did not mean to mislead anybody with the piece and does apologize for any misunderstanding. •
Trump Won’t Revive COOL (received moments before press time)
President-elect Donald Trump will not revive Country of Origin labeling for Canadian beef and pork, according to a new report from Politico.
Trump’s Agriculture Advisory Committee jumped on Politico’s original report saying COOL could be revived.
“…They were quick to mobilize and inform Trump’s transition team that such a policy – which has been litigated in both the U.S. court system and the World Trade Organization – is a non-starter for most farm groups,”
Politico news now says. Poliyico suggested two possible sources for the misleading information it originally reported.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America advocates for trade policies that promote domestic manufacturing, and its advice to the Trump team supported COOL, according to Michael Stumo, the group’s chief executive officer, who was quoted in the article. According to Politico, the other source may have been former Ohio Rep. Robert McEwen, who attended the August convention of the R-CALF USA as a surrogate for the campaign, said Bill Bullard, R-CALF’s chief executive officer. •
— By Jim Romahn
***** Earlier reports had indicated that President-elect Donald Trump will try to impose country-of-origin labeling requirements, according to a memo obtained by the CNN news agency.
He will apparently ask the Commerce Department and the International Trade Department to apply to renegotiate the North American Trade Agreement on the day he takes office Jan. 20.
And the memo further indicates that softwood lumber imports from Canada and country-of-origin labeling will be top priorities. Canada and Mexico won a costly battle over country-of-origin labeling for meats when the World Trade Organization ruled the law discriminates against imports. •
— By Jim Romahn
