Animal Nutrition Conference of Canada
Top feed industry event May 15-16 in Niagara Falls showcases epigenetics & more.
New frontiers in animal nutrition are generating dynamic new opportunities for livestock and feed industries to become more efficient, profitable and sustainable.
Participants from across the animal nutrition industry can learn about the latest knowledge and developments – including cutting-edge research driving the rising potential of epigenetics and more – at the 3rd annual Animal Nutrition Conference of Canada (ANCC), May 15-16 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. (Registration is available at www.animalnutritionconference.ca).
The ANCC brings together participants from across Canada and beyond, in one unparalleled national event featuring top speakers, hot topics and the latest science-based knowledge and progress, along with outstanding discussion and networking opportunities. The ANCC is hosted by the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada (ANAC) and is the only Canadian conference with a singular focus on animal nutrition, with a robust program designed for researchers, nutritionists, feed industry specialists and other industry partners.
Full program details, sponsor recognition and registration information are available at www.animalnutritionconference.ca. Follow and engage on social media with #ANCC19. ANAC is the national trade association of the livestock and poultry feed industry, with over 170 members including feed and ingredient manufacturers and distributors as well as suppliers of a wide range of goods and services to the feed industry. Learn about ANAC at www.anacan.org. •
World Pork Expo
The annual trade show will be held in Des Moines IA June 5th -7th.
Check on line at worldporkexpo.org for details and information. •
Alberta Pork Congress
The 45th annual Alberta Pork Congress will be held in Westerner Park in Red Deer June 12th & 13th.
As of press time the trade show booth space is 90% sold, so do not delay book your space today. Online registration is open at albertaporkcongress.com.
Join fellow exhibitors for the Swine & Cheese held onsite at Westerner Park after set up Tuesday June 11th from 5 – 7.
Trade show floor will be open Wednesday June 12th from 9 – 4:30 and Thursday 9 – 3. Once again a onsite lunch buffet will be served, contact the office to preorder your tickets.
The annual awards banquet will take place Wednesday evening from 5:30 at the Holiday Inn on Gasoline Alley.
New this year Alberta Pork Congress is hosting the 1st Annual BBQ Rib Contest Thursday June 13th, 2019. This year Alberta Pork Congress challenges the pork industry to compete in the 1st Annual BBQ Rib Contest! Are you the go to BBQ hot shot at your company? Want more bragging rights? Join us and showcase your best recipe and technique! Each team will be provided the basic equipment and ribs, samples will be provided to the judging panel and a winner crowned onsite! Tasting tickets will be available for purchase by Congress attendees and they will crown the Fan Favourite!
Whether a participant or spectator, this contest will be fun and entertaining for everyone! Music, food and networking….and hopefully sunshine!
Should you have any questions or to order your BBQ, lunch and banquet tickets or reserve your booth please contact the Kate or Kyla in the office at 403.244.7821 or email
kate@albertaporkcongress.com or
kyla@albertaporkcongress.com •
Porkapalooza
The 6th annual Porkapalooza BBQ Festival will once again be hosted and organized by Alberta Pork. Located at Northlands Park in Edmonton June 15th & 16th.
Porkapalooza includes a World class cooking competition, sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS).
The Porkapalooza BBQ Festival , a Big Meat Up, is a community event showcasing the art and culture of BBQ. It is organized by the Porkapalooza BBQ Festival Society with generous financial support from Alberta Pork and other sponsors. At its heart, it is a BBQ competition, but it encompasses all the components of a festival: local food trucks, beer gardens, food demonstration stage, a Kids Zone playground and plenty of entertainment.
Organizers are hoping to reach 75 teams this year to achieve the biggest BBQ festival outside the US.
The BBQ festival charity society in the past has supported local charites Ronald Mcdonald’s House, Youth Empowerment & Support Services and AdaptAbilities.
Check out their website for more details
porkapalooza.ca for more details. •
Ontario Pork Congress
The annual Ontario Pork Congress will be held in Stratford June 19th & 20th
Details available on their website at
porkcongress.on.ca •
Alberta Livestock Expo
The third annual Alberta Livestock Expo will take place at Exhibition Park in Lethbridge October 9 & 10, save the date.
Stay tuned to the June edition for more details. •
Red Deer Swine Technology Workshop
Save the date the Red Deer Swine Technology Workshop is booked at Westerner Park Wednesday October 23rd.
Watch future issues for more details and registration information. •
Sask Pork Symposium
Although November seems like a long time away, schedules fill up and time flies by. Mark November 12 & 13 on your calendars for annual event. •
Alberta Pork AGM
Mark your calendars for the Alberta Pork 50th anniversary AGM November 21st •
Brandon Hog & Livestock Expo
The Brandon Hog & Livestock Expo will be held at Keystone Centre Wednesday December 11th.
Canada Says it Takes African Swine Fever seriously
After the U.S. recently announced increased vigilance to keep African Swine Fever out, the Canadian government responded to a request to know what it’s doing.
It said “the Government of Canada takes seriously the threat posed by ASF to the health of our animals and the Canadian pork industry, which contributes $24 billion to the economy. Canada’s pork industry is the country’s fourth largest agricultural sector supporting over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs.
“We are working closely with the farmers, processors, provinces, international partners, and government agencies to prevent the entry of ASF to Canada. In addition, we are working closely with the U.S. on ASF preparedness.
“With the Canadian Border Services Agency we are targeting passengers and goods coming from high-risk areas.
“Detector dog capacity (had been) redirected to Canada’s international airports by CBSA.
“We are reaching travellers through a social media campaign that has been seen by 15 million people to date, and by working with airport authorities and travel suppliers to remind travellers that it is illegal to bring pork products and by-products into Canada.
“Major international airports have either already erected or are in the process of adding additional digital signage and posters on these topics in key areas of airports.”
The CFIA said “we are collaborating with the Canadian Pork Council on awareness and outreach for small producers and overall on-farm biosecurity.
“We are partnering with Canada’s pork industry to help maintain a high level of vigilance and standards on pig farms. This includes getting information out to pig farms about measures and actions farmers can take to strengthen their efforts to prevent diseases such as ASF from infecting their animals. “The industry is also developing a national standard to strengthen farm-level biosecurity.”
The CFIA said it is “working closely with industry, provincial and federal partners to prevent and respond to an outbreak of ASF.
“We are working . . . to reduce the risk from feed imports containing ASF entering Canada. We have instituted a federal, provincial and industry Executive Management Board on ASF to consider, adopt and implement actions rapidly, and to coordinate our efforts for maximum impact.” •
— By Jim Romahn
Border Agents Seize Chinese Pork
Border guards have seized about one million pounds of pork products entering the United States illegally at the port of New York/Newark, New Jersey.
They will be incinerated to make sure no African Swine Fever that might be in the pork can infect North American pigs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency said it’s the biggest seizure in history.
“This was highly orchestrated,” said Stephen Maloney, the Customs and Border Patrol’s acting port director for the Port of New York/Newark. He said this was a concerted effort to conceal product.
More than 100 CBP agricultural specialists and K-9 (sniffer dog) teams worked to uncover the prohibited food.
The pork was smuggled in various ways including ramen noodle bowls to Tide detergent containers, said deputy chief agricultural specialist Basil Liakakos.
In some cases the packaging in the shipment matched the products on the manifest, authorities said, but the contents inside were prohibited pork. In other cases, the pork was simply packaged among the other products.
CBP teams are working hard to keep African Swine Fever, a highly transmissible, deadly virus of pigs, out of the U.S.
The ASF virus can survive for 150 to 180 days in fresh meat. In frozen meat, reports say the virus can live indefinitely.
Officials announced this seizure of more than 50 shipping containers during a press conference Friday morning at a warehouse in Elizabeth, N.J. •
— By Jim Romahn
Border Guards Say Dog is Working Well
Canadian Border Service agents say their sniffer dog, Wade, has been working well at Pearson International Airport.
So far this year Wade has sounded alerts about 100 times, resulting in 64 seizures from passengers arriving from China.
The officials confiscated three meat products, including pork, and 62 plant products.
The Canadian Border Services Agency is taking extra care to scrutinize passengers arriving from China, part of increased Canadian vigilance against African Swine Fever.•
— By Jim Romahn
African Swine Fever: 5 Facts You Need to Know
Outside of its origins on the African continent, African swine fever (ASF) continues its relentless devastation through parts of Asia and Europe, causing increasing disruption to the world’s pork production. All eyes are on China, however, to see how the number one pork producing country in the world moves forward. The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said that nearly all of China’s provincial level administrative units have reported one or more ASF breaks.
It is still unclear if ASF outbreaks will continue to be reported with the same frequency and geographic distribution, but regardless, the disease has already taken a toll on China’s swine and pork production for 2019. According to the March 11 USDA GAIN Report, by the end of 2019, the total swine inventory will be down 13% to 374 million head. Pork production will decrease by 5% to 51.4 million metric tons, with the reduced supply only slightly offset by weakened demand. To cover the domestic supply gap, China will increase pork imports by 33% to 2 million metric tons.
Although U.S. pork products still face retaliatory Chinese tariffs of up to 62% and process verification requirements, if these are removed, U.S. producers could significantly increase exports to China, the report says.
Many experts believe China’s ASF situation is now “endemic,” meaning there’s little hope of containment or eradication anytime in the near future. This is further evidenced by the recent confirmation of the ASF virus spreading in neighboring Vietnam. Other pig-raising countries nearby with growing levels of concern include Thailand, whose pork industry is worth $3.3 billion a year and is considered the region’s most advanced.
Dr. Klaus Depner, DVM, a leading ASF expert from Germany, says ASF can be prevented if you follow biosecurity protocols. At the 2019 American Association of Swine Veterinarians annual meeting, he said, “Don’t be afraid. ASF is a manageable disease.”
Here are five facts you need to know.
- ASF is a highly transmissible hemorrhagic disease that produces a wide range of clinical signs and lesions.
- ASF is a trade-limiting foreign animal disease of swine. Countries with confirmed cases are subject to international trade restrictions aimed at reducing the risk of introduction of the disease through trade.
- The U.S. has never had a case of African swine fever.
- The USDA does not allow importation of pigs or fresh pork products into the U.S. from areas or regions of the world that are reported positive for the ASF virus.
- There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease, but it does not affect human health.
Depner says it’s important to identify the essentials and spot the disease characteristics that are important for epidemiological understanding.
“ASF is a slow disease,” he says. “Animals don’t shed much virus at first. ASF pigs get more and more infectious toward the end.”
Humans are recognized as the main cause of both long-distance transmission and virus introduction into domestic pig farms, Depner says. He believes it is crucial to include social science when planning prevention, control or eradication measures.
“By considering only the biological particularities of the disease, contagiosity, tenacity and case fatality rate, but ignoring the human aspects, the epidemic will not be controlled,” he says. •
— Source: Farm Journals Pork
Meat Council Praises Immigration Announcement
The Canadian Meat Council is praising the federal government for opening the temporary foreign worker program for three years to help agricultural companies fill job vacancies.
The pilot program will allow employers to bring in full-time, non-seasonal agriculture workers that will include a pathway to permanent residency.
The Canadian Meat Council said it “has been advocating for many years the need for government to create a program that would help the sector to deal with critical and chronic shortage of butchers and issues with the current Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Program.
Council president Chris White said “this pilot is vital to our sector. Our members provide year-round, permanent jobs. There’s nothing temporary about meat processing’s workforce requirements.
“We currently have over 1,700 vacancies to fill with 900 butchers looking for permanent residency. This immigration Pilot will provide a pathway to residency for butchers in all provinces which isn’t available to us right now,” White said. •
— By Jim Romahn
New Rosedale Raised the Bar with Western Expansion
Last fall, at a time when the North American feed industry was undergoing a dramatic transformation driven by new rules, heightened market expectations and groundbreaking technology advances, a growing number of major farming operations are opting to take charge of their futures by embracing a stronger direct role in feed production and feed additive innovation.
A top example leading this trend was After establishing a strong legacy as one of the first major farming operations to enter the commercial feed business, under its New Rosedale Feedmill brand, the trailblazing farming enterprise completed final stages of a multi-pronged expansion slated for completion last fall.
New Rosedale Colony Farms Ltd., based near Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, expanded the main mill that will more than double commercial feed production capacity, for multi species. New Rosedale’s launched it’s first custom branded feed additive technology, the next generation multi-activity enzyme supplement “Rozyme Plus.”
Livestock producers and industry shifted to meet new standards on judicious use of antibiotics, with the Veterinary Feed Directive now fully implemented in the U.S. and similar regulations came into effect last December in Canada.
Enzyme supplementation has long played an important role across livestock sectors to help break down otherwise hard or impossible to digest feed components, resulting in strong efficiency gains, cost reductions, reduced environmental footprint and numerous additional benefits supporting animals as well as profitability and sustainability. Now based on new science, knowledge and strengthened commitments to research and development, the leading feed enzyme technology options are achieving major gains in each of these areas.
Rozyme Plus, which was awarded Canadian Food Inspection Agency registration approval, represents the most advanced next generation enzyme technology and is now newly available direct from New Rosedale and its expanded dealer network.
It features multiple enzyme activities to achieve elite level feed breakdown, and is particularly suited for use with common feedstuffs and diets fed in western Canada and the northwestern U.S. Along with several enzymes formulated to maximize synergistic activity, it also includes phytase for those who do not already have phytase added into their vitamin trace mineral or premix pack.
New Rosedale Feedmill – including production of complete feeds, minerals and premixes – has been HAACP certified since 2007, is a member of the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada, and follows the rigorous safety and quality assurance measures of the Feed Assure program. •
Government of Canada Announces Changes to
Humane Transport Requirements Under the Health of Animals Regulations
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) understands the importance of the health and wellbeing of animals to Canadians and the Canadian economy. Announced February 20th, marked an important achievement with the publication of amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations (Part XII) on animal transportation.
The amendments are the product of extensive consultations with farm groups, transporters, members of the public and interested groups, which resulted in an unprecedented number of responses to the CFIA’s proposals. They also take into account the latest research on animal transportation and international standards. By establishing clear and science-informed requirements, the regulations better reflect the needs of animals and improve overall animal welfare in Canada.
These new, stronger regulations include both prescriptive and outcome-based requirements that emphasize and improve the health and wellbeing of the animals during the entire transportation process. The amendments will also increase consumer confidence, strengthen Canada’s international trade status and facilitate market access.
The overall objective is that animals arrive at their destination safely, and are suitably fed, hydrated and rested. These amendments go beyond transport journey times to cover the full time an animal is prepared for transit to the time they are installed in their new location. The new regulations are more detailed with respect to the different needs of different types of animals and specify intervals for transporters to provide food, water and rest.
Everyone involved in the transportation of animals in Canada must comply with the Health of Animals Act and the amended regulations. The CFIA will be providing guidance to industry to help them comply with the new regulations. If non-compliance is found, the CFIA will use a range of enforcement and compliance tools available to take action.
The new regulations will come into effect in February 2020. This one-year transition will allow the animal transport industry to prepare for the amended regulations before they are enforced.
Approximately 98% of shipments are already in compliance with the new food, water and rest requirements.•
MELT Deadline Extended for Alberta Class 1 Drivers in Agriculture
Started March 1, 2019, Alberta drivers seeking a Class 1 (tractor trailer) licence are required to complete Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) to apply for their licence.
New drivers working in agriculture now have until November 30, 2019 under the existing process to earn a Class 1 licence and will have until March 1, 2020 to comply with the new commercial driver MELT program. Eligible farm owners and workers can apply for the extension here starting on March 15, 2019.
Class 1 drivers who were licensed between October 11, 2018 and February 28, 2019 are not required to take the MELT program but must take the new enhanced knowledge test and enhanced road test. The Government of Alberta will notify these drivers by mail. Class 1 drivers who were licensed before October 11, 2018 are not required to take the MELT program, enhanced knowledge test or enhanced road test.
The temporary MELT exemption for drivers in agriculture has been made to accommodate the needs of the 2019 crop seeding and harvest season but also applies to livestock transporters, following consultation with 3,300 stakeholders that wrapped up in July 2018. The existing driver training process remains unchanged, but the classroom portion of the training (the MELT program) has been revised.
For more information on driver training and the Transport Quality Assurance (TQA) program, contact Cristina Neva or Javier Bahamon, Quality Assurance and Production Team, Alberta Pork by email at cristina.neva@albertapork.com or javier.bahamon@albertapork.com. Alternatively, phone 1-877-247-PORK (7675). •
— Alberta Pork
Economists Foresee Market Disarray
Three members of Agri-Food Economic Systems foresee disarray for agriculture markets this year with possibly soaring hog prices and collapsing soybean and canola prices.
African Swine Fever is claiming huge hog numbers in China – roughly equivalent to the combined Canadian and U.S. hog herds– so China will be shopping for more pork, but buying fewer soybeans and canola because the demand for hog feed will decline.
Rabobank predicts China will lose 20 per cent of its sow herd to the disease, the authors note. That would be about seven million sows; the U.S. sow herd is six million.
Markets are also being roiled by politics, including the Brexit issue for the European Union and the tariff war sparked by United States President Donald Trump.
“Open markets in agriculture adjust to an expected equilibrium of supply and demand, both domestic and international,” said Douglas Hedley, Agri-Food Economic Systems associate and co-author of the report.
But there is no clarity or stability in the “expected equilibrium” in the fall for field crops that will be planted this spring in Canada, the U.S. and other northern hemisphere countries, nor is there clarity in the livestock markets,” he said.
“The pathway to equilibrium is not even clear in this environment”.
Co-author Ted Bilyea said “the Chinese sow herd is expected to decrease by about the size of the North American sow herd, this year alone, due to African Swine Fever. The implied gap in Chinese meat demand is spilling over into a global market lacking the capacity to quickly fill it”.
Co-author Al Mussel said “with the ongoing situation with U.S. soybean exports to China, and now Canadian canola, we face the remarkable prospect of a year with high livestock prices and exceptionally low crop prices, with little guidance for producers as to what to plant.”
“Resolution of trade tensions between the U.S. and China may only make this worse for Canada, and China is likely to be in no hurry to resume buying canola from Canada.
“The terms of trade that will face Canada at harvest time this year are now subject to major unknowns,” Mussel said •
— By Jim Romahn
