Ken Engele, the Prairie Swine Centre’s manager of knowledge transfer, said that when it comes to management, little things done right add up.
Speaking at the recent Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2024 in Saskatoon, Engele said two surveys of pork producers conducted by Prairie Swine Centre and CDQP in partnership with Swine Innovation Porc looked at all production phases.
Engele said a groundbreaking initiative aimed at improving on-farm practices across Canadian pork production facilities. “We combined research results from various organizations over the past several years to identify the best management practices for producers,” he said. Supported by Swine Innovation Pork, the project also included a comprehensive survey of pork producers to gather valuable insights directly from the industry.
He said the first phase included a detailed questionnaire and on-farm visits, while the second phase followed up with a more straightforward survey using SurveyMonkey. These surveys, which relied on self-reported data from pork producers, examined all main production phases—from breeding to marketing—and delved into critical areas like feeder management, water management, personal protection, and bio-security.
“We aimed to cover basic production parameters in each area.”
Engele focused on critical topics such as bio-security, personal protection, enrichment throughout the production phases, water use and management, and feeder design and management. The comprehensive approach ensured valuable insights into the best practices for pork production across Canada.
He shared the key findings from the comprehensive surveys, which examined 15 sectors of pork production. “It was an all-encompassing project,” he noted, “and one of the main outcomes emphasized the importance of adjusting nipple drinkers and managing water use—critical driving factors in efficient production.”

The surveys revealed a wide range of performance levels among producers, highlighting areas where producers could improve. Engele underscores that feed costs remain the single largest expense in production, making feeder design, management, and adjustment a consistent priority for optimizing efficiency.
“Feed will always be the highest cost, so ensuring proper feeder practices is crucial,” he explained. The insights offer valuable guidance for improving operations across the pork industry
He emphasized the significant benefits of enrichment in pork production. “Enrichment has lots of added benefits,” he explained. “Other presentations at the symposium have demonstrated that it not only improves animal welfare but also provides a positive economic return.” This dual advantage makes enrichment valuable for producers, enhancing the animals’ well-being and operations’ financial sustainability.
Engele highlighted the project’s long-term nature, which will continue with additional industry input over the next four years. “We’ve followed this project for the past five or six years, allowing us to track original producers throughout the process and observe improvements in their operations.”
The project’s knowledge transfer program addresses specific areas where results fall short of expectations. “We create targeted communications to address these areas and drive that information to the industry, aiming to enhance adoption of best practices.”
Engele emphasized the importance of focusing on best management practices, noting their cumulative impact. “The day-to-day tasks on the farm might not seem exciting or important individually,” he said, “But, as I shared in my example, it’s like hitting lots of singles instead of home runs. When you consistently do everything right, the combined effect is far greater than expected, driving meaningful improvements in operations.”
He said the cumulative benefits of best management practices are like one plus one: it’s no longer two; it’s three. Doing all the little things right consistently creates a much greater effect than any individual effort alone.
Currently, in phase three of the project, supported by Swine Innovation Pork, the focus is on continuing to measure and encourage adopting these practices. Over the next two to four years, the team will gather industry input and revisit the original farms that participated in the project five years ago to assess their progress in implementing these practices.
“Producers know best management practices, but with the day-to-day demands of farming, they easily get lost. There’s always a thousand things competing for a producer’s time.” •
— By Harry Siemens