Awards of Distinction
Sask Pork honoured two local swine experts with Saskatchewan Pork Industry Awards of Distinction at the 45th annual Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium recently.
Researcher Dr. Jennifer Brown with Prairie Swine Centre (PSC) and veterinarian Dr. Josh Lindenbach received top honours from the hog industry at the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium dinner and Awards of Distinction on November 15th at the Saskatoon Inn and Conference Centre.
Dr. Jennifer Brown was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. She has been the Research Scientist – Ethology at Prairie Swine Centre since 2011. Brown has earned the respect of the swine industry in Saskatchewan and across Canada and has played a key role in assisting the industry in making the change to group sow housing. She provided leadership for the National Sow Housing Conversion Project, a collaborative effort involving industry and researchers to enable the successful adoption and conversion of sow barns to group housing in Canada. While at Prairie Swine Centre, Brown’s areas of research have included group sow housing, welfare of pigs during transport, development of techniques to measure stress in pigs, and the use of enrichments for sows.
Dr. Murray Pettitt, CEO of Prairie Swine Centre, nominated Brown.
“Jennifer brings much more than her research skills to the swine industry. She is passionate about training the next generation of swine professionals and is an excellent teacher as evidenced by how much undergraduate students enjoy and learn from her classes. She is also an accomplished teacher and mentor to her graduate students and thrives on increasing their understanding of animal welfare and behaviour,” explained Dr. Murray Pettitt. “She is an excellent researcher, leading the way in welfare and behaviour research on behalf of swine producers in Saskatchewan and beyond.”
“I am very honored to receive this award from Sask Pork. I hope that my research has given new understanding and a meaningful perspective on challenges related to animal care. I look forward to continuing work on pig behaviour and welfare with the help of students and partners in the pork industry and academia,” said recipient Dr. Jennifer Brown. “One important goal going forward is to see Canadian producers fully implement group sow housing in productive and sustainable systems.”
Dr. Josh Lindenbach of Warman Veterinary Services was also recognized with an Award of Distinction for Exceptional Service for his leadership during a livestock transportation rollover this summer.
“Dr. Lindenbach’s quick response provided a significant service to the industry. Despite the danger to himself, he entered the trailer, and managed the assessment, handling, and extraction of the animals still on board as well as those outside the trailer. While I know Josh is appreciated every day by his farms, as their herd health veterinarian, his actions on August 4th made a big difference to the animals and industry,” said Mark Ferguson, General Manager of Sask Pork.
“I am humbled and appreciative of the recognition the industry has made. I just considered the situation part of my veterinary duty and service to the Saskatchewan pork industry, which is made of producers that are hard working and dutifully care for their livestock,” said Dr. Josh Lindenbach.
Lindenbach grew up on a dairy farm east of Regina where his passion for livestock originated. This led him to pursue a career in veterinary medicine and he joined Warman Veterinary Services in 2008. He serves both the dairy and swine industries in Saskatchewan, promoting animal health and welfare and explaining how healthy animals allow for high production and sustainability for the farm. Lindenbach has memberships multiple swine associations and has contributed to numerous industry-led projects.
“Often our pork industry awards of distinction are used to celebrate a lifetime of work in the industry, as with the dedicated service of Dr. Jennifer Brown. However, other times it is to recognize an individual who has gone above and beyond in their duties, and contributed to the industry in an extraordinary manner,” explained Ferguson. “This year’s awards are a true celebration honouring the many ways in which the over 1,000 people working in hog production in Saskatchewan serve the industry and we are delighted to celebrate both Dr. Jennifer Brown and Dr. Josh Lindenbach.” •
— Sask Pork
Celebrating 30 Years
Farm Management Canada started as the Canadian Farm Business Management Council in 1992. This year marks Farm Management Canada’s 30th anniversary! For the past 30 years, they have delivered countless programs, services and resources to help farmers across Canada achieve farm business excellence. •
Genesus Presents Awards
The following is a list of the Genesus customers that exceeded 25 pigs per mated female in the last calendar year.
Big Bend 31.27, Clearwater 31.04, Newell 30.85, Crystal Spring 30.60, Woodland 30.51, Midway 30.45, Bluegrass 30.44, Baker 30.23, Brantwood 30.16, Prairie Home 30.04, Rosedale 29.94, Gadsby South 29.89, Gadsby North 29.76, Green Acres 29.72, Hutterville 29.59, Whitesand 29.46, Fairlane 29.41, Starbrite 29.11, Sky Light 29.02, Little Bow 29.00, Neudorf 28.81, Brant 28.73, Kingsland 28.48, Clearview 28.34, Rimrock 28.30, Grassland 27.59, Cascade 27.56, Neu Muehl 27.40, Miami 1 27.35, Elmspring 27.33, Camrose MT 27.26, Cypress 27.01, Oakridge 26.55, Oaklane 26.21, Rocklake 26.20, Hidden Lake 25.76 and Valleyview 25.61.
Congratulations to all 37 of these Genesus Genetics customers. •
Maple Leaf Shares Award Winners
At a recent producers meeting in Lethbridge on November 23rd awards were presented in various categories.
Hog Delivery Performance Award – 3rd Blue Ridge Colony, 2nd New York Colony, 1st New Elm Colony
Meat Quality – 3rd Elmspring Colony, 2nd Rock Lake Colony, 1st Neu Muehl Colony
Weight in Core over 200 hogs/week – 3rd Bluegrass Colony, 2nd Baker Colony, 1st Spring Point North Colony
Weight in Core under 200 hogs/week – 3rd Blue Ridge Colony, 2nd Neu Muehl, 1st Willow Creek Colony
High Index Award – 3rd Neu Muehl, 2nd Willow Creek Colony, 1st Baker Colony
Overall Signature Award, which takes in all criteria into consideration – 3rd Willow Creek Colony, 2nd Baker Colony, 1st Neu Muehl Colony.
Congratulations to all the top place finishers in each of the categories. •
Topigs Norsvin Hand Out Awards
Winnipeg, Manitoba and Stratford, Ontario are the two locations where Topigs Norsvin says a special “Thank-you” at their annual Customer Appreciation & Awards Dinners.
The summary of the production award winners and runner-up winners are listed by category.
Herds <500 sows
Farrowing Rate: Valley Lea Farms (MB) 93.41% Runner-up Ponteix Colony (SK) 91.84%
Pigs Born Alive/litter: Pembina Hog Farm (MB) 15.86 Runner-up Springfield Hog Farm (MB) 15.39
Pigs Weaned/Sow/Year: Pembina Hog Farm (MB) 33.03 Runner-up Cool Spring Colony (MB) 32.67
Herds 501-1200 sows
Farrowing Rate: Winner Evergreen Colony (MB) 96.6% Runner-up Trileaf Colony (MB) 93.3%
Pigs Born Alive/litter: Winner Trileaf Colony (MB) 16.03 Runner-up Evergreen Colony (MB) 15.97
Pigs Weaned/Sow/Year: Winner Evergreen Colony (MB) 34.47 Runner-up Trileaf Colony (MB) 33.08
Herds >1200 sows
Farrowing Rate: Winner Silver Pine Site 1 (MB) 93.3% Runner-up Red River Genetics (MB) 92.3%
Pigs Born Alive/litter: Winner Stanley Pork Ltd. (MB) 15.80 Runner-up Morris Piglets North (MB) 14.74
Pigs Weaned/Sow/Year: Winner Stanley Pork Ltd (MB) 31.94 Runner-up Rhineland Pork (MB) 31.53
In addition each year they present an award for the best new start up herd. Winner for Western Canada was Rosebank Colony (MB). Average Parity 1.41; Born Alive/Litter 14.11; Weaner/Litter 12.91; Weaned/Mated Female/Year 30.85.
Between the awards handed out in West and East was a total of 104 farms.
These 104 farms averaged 28.96 pigs weaned/mated female/year. Of these 104 herds, 75 herds – 88,198 sows had 28+ Pigs Weaned/Sow.The best herd in western Canada was Evergreen Colony of Manitoba weaning 34.37/sow/year
Congratulations to all the winners.•
