July 1, 2018, Dr. Murray Pettitt became the new CEO of the Prairie Swine Centre in Saskatoon, SA succeeding Lee Whittington, who retired after 26 years, the last ten years as President/CEO.
Dr. Pettitt worked in the swine research community for the past 21 years and previously employed at Prairie Swine Centre (PSC) for ten years, managing Contract Research from 2003-2009. During that time he grew the program’s size and capabilities while being responsible for the business development and the design and implementation of customer-driven research.
“It is like coming home – to be able to return to the Centre after nine years pursuing my research interests in my area of specialization,” said Pettitt at the time. “The position of CEO will allow me to further my interests in bringing science to agriculture, and adding to the long, successful history of Prairie Swine Centre’s service to the pork industry.”
Prairie Hog Country caught up with Pettitt at the Niverville, MB PSC producer meeting in early April and asked him how the new role for him is working.
“We’re currently working on our strategic plan for the next five years. It’s allowed me to go out and talk to lots of folks throughout the industry and hear what they’re thinking and what kinds of information they might need and allowing us to focus our efforts to serve the industry in Western Canada even better than we already are,” he said.
“Historically, we’ve focused on three areas, nutrition, engineering, and animal behaviour and welfare. And I’m sure we’ll continue to do that because those are important aspects of what the industry does, but you know there are new things on the horizon. It’s now the internet of things, and all this new digital technology coming our way, and how do you make sense of it, and how do you decide what’s useful and what will pay back or will make your life easier, so that’s one area that has potential. Whether or not the Swine Centre gets involved in that, we’re not quite sure yet. I think that’s probably the big one.”
Pettitt said the other one that’s on top of the minds of everybody, of course, is health and the disease status of the Canadian herd and other herds throughout the world.
“Not so sure the Swine Centre has a big role to play in that, but we’re certainly a part of the industry, too. We’re hog producers just like everybody else, so we’ll certainly do our part from the biosecurity and involvement,” he said. “Part of being here today is taking our information right to the industry and getting the feedback from producers and allowing us to understand what the concerns are and what the needs are so that we can stay focused on the job at hand.”
The PSC is doing a lot of transport work, looking at the transport conditions and the new trailers coming on the market that are different than in the past and looking at how best to use them. The health of the piglets as they’re getting transported through them, on using those trailers to improve the biosecurity of the pigs on the trailer.
Pettitt is originally from Russell, MB but spent the last almost 20 years in Saskatoon. Again, about a decade at the Swine Centre, and nearly nine years at the University of Saskatchewan as a researcher, but coming back to the Swine Centre, so it’s good to be back home.
When looking at the changes in the pig business, consolidation is the significant change.
“It’s changed even since I started in this business with fewer small producers out there, and a lot of amalgamation and integration, so that’s part of the questions I’m asking the industry, too. How does the Swine Centre stay relevant to the changing demographics of the industry,” he said. “And that’s important for us because if we’re not serving our customers well, then we’re not doing our jobs.”
One example of real change has to do with the switch over to group housing for sow barns. Something that many viewed with skepticism.
“And it will take time, but I think as it goes along, we’re working the kinks out of it, and people see that it is, in fact, a good way to manage the pigs,” said Pettitt. “The Swine Centre has done a lot of that background, research, and extension work into that, so we’ll be there as a resource when the industry needs us to assist with the transitions.” •
— By Harry Siemens