6 09, 2019

On The Edge With Siemens Says

Why traceability in the food chain is important

The day I went to tour the Hemp Oil Canada plant at Ste. Agathe, MB, I washed with hemp soap in the morning and ate hemp hearts for breakfast as I do quite often. And it wasn’t for the sake of being able to tell my hosts

6 09, 2019

Approach to Brachyspira Hyodysenteriae Vaccine Development Offers Application to Other Pathogens

Dr. Matt Loewen, an Associate Professor in Veterinary Medical Biosciences with the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine is confident they can apply to other pathogens a new approach to dealing with bacterial diarrhea in pigs.
To assist in vaccine development, researchers with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine have isolated two

6 09, 2019

Disease and Production Has The Pork Industry in a Quandary

The United States Department of Agriculture is forecasting pork production for 2019 at 27.662 billion pounds — 360 million pounds higher than the forecast presented a month ago. The June inventory survey pointed to larger inventories of hogs available for marketing this summer and the pig crop for the Mar-May period was 3.7 percent

6 09, 2019

Resetting a Broken System

This might hurt – and some will feel it more than others. There is no question that the pricing model on which commercial hogs are sold is broken. But the benefits available from an aggressive reset now underway in Alberta will outweigh any pain the industry may feel, says the man leading the

6 09, 2019

Dr. Carr Observes re PED Virus in Manitoba

International livestock veterinarian consultant and lecturer Dr. John Carr said recently, “at the moment, I have two major issues on the planet. We’ve got to fix Manitoba’s PED outbreak. I don’t know; we seem to almost to get there and then not quite enough. This is quite frustrating.”
In speaking candidly from the Manila

6 09, 2019

Ongoing Trade Challenges

Just when you thought the trade waters could not get any muddier between Canada and China, they do.
Trade works best when supply and demand is the driving force.
Trade does not work very well when outside forces are applied to the process, in particular when governments use the process of trade as a club in

6 09, 2019

Practical Environmental Enrichment Strategies for Piglets

Recent interest in environmental enrichment stems from the National Farm Animal Care Council’s 2014 update to the Canadian Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs which states that all pigs must have “multiple forms of enrichment that aim to improve the welfare of the animals through the enhancement of their physical

6 09, 2019

U.S. ASF Prevention and Preparedness Makes Great Strides

The Swine Health Information Center is working on multiple fronts stakeholders on African Swine Fever preparedness, prevention, and response as part of its mission to protect and enhance the health of the U.S. swineherd.
Swine Health Information Center Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg first outlined the situation with ASF.
“The virus continues to spread

6 09, 2019

Trade Issues the Focus at Agriculture Meeting

The Federal, Provincial, and Territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture concluded their two-day annual meeting in Quebec City on July 19.
During the meeting, Alberta’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen strongly recommended the federal government take urgent action to provide support to the agriculture industry in the short and long term.
The industry is currently experiencing

  • MPC - Janelle Hamblin
6 09, 2019

Biosecurity – Biosecurity – Biosecurity to Help Eradicate the PED Virus

Porcine epidemic diarrhea has once again surfaced in Manitoba. According to the Manitoba Pork Council 60 cases of PED (24 finisher barns, eleven nursery barns, 24 sow units, one quarantine) up until July 26. Of those facilities with infected pigs, 48 are in southeast Manitoba, nine west of the Red River in the Lowe