Washpower robot washers are in more than 1,000 barns around the world, including American barns seen in these promotional photos.

Automated washer a possible biosecurity, labour boon for hog producers

The Manitoba Pork Council has drawn a direct line between understaffing and outbreaks of PED

A hog farm in southeastern Manitoba is taking a crack at automating its barn washing process with help from a Danish robot. “It definitely creates labour efficiencies,” said Dickson Gould, president of the Progressive Group. It is testing a Washpower robotic pressure washer in a batch farrowing barn. Why it matters: Labour gaps and disease biosecurity have both

(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Avian flu outbreaks climb in Quebec poultry

Thirteen outbreaks reported in province so far in April

After a relatively quiet March with just one outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic poultry, Quebec has turned up 13 outbreaks so far this month. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency in April has reported detections of high-path avian flu at 13 sites in that province, including: three commercial barns in the regional county


A PED working group has been developing a plan since early 2022.

Manitoba Pork floats PED plan to producers

Working group says an elimination approach the only viable option

Pork producers recently got a first look at Manitoba Pork’s plan to virtually eliminate PED from the provincial hog industry. The draft plan’s goal is to eliminate 96 per cent of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) infections by 2027, according to the presentation at the Nov. 1 producer meeting. Details are pending. The draft showed objectives

File photo of a small flock of tundra swans taking off from a grain field in early spring. (WWing/iStock/Getty Images)

Spring planting work can kick up avian flu, feather sector warns

Three more poultry outbreaks confirmed in Canada so far this week

Spring planting work could soon start to bring unintended gifts left by wild birds from fields into farmyards, Ontario’s poultry and egg sectors warn, as more cases of avian flu are confirmed at poultry farms across the country. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Thursday reported three additional outbreaks of H5 avian influenza in commercial

Small-scale farmers important for ASF prevention: Manitoba Pork

Small-scale farmers important for ASF prevention: Manitoba Pork

On smaller, specialty hog farms, herd health — while taken just as seriously — can look a lot different, say two producers

Smaller-scale farmers have a part to play in keeping deadly African swine fever (ASF) out of Manitoba’s swine herd, says the Manitoba Pork Council. “When African swine fever went from wild pigs in Germany into the domestic herd, the first time was a farm with four pigs, and the second time was a farm with



ASF outbreaks can cripple hog production and trade, as China’s experience proves. Canada is looking to offset the worst risk with a ‘peacetime’ plan.

Boxing out African swine fever

Pork sector weighing compartmentalization framework for African swine fever fight

The hog sector is considering a proposed ‘compartmentalization’ framework that will come into play should African swine fever arrive in Canada. Unlike zoning, in which authorities lay out control zones once disease is detected, the compartmentalization program would create rigorously monitored ASF-free ‘compartments’ to operate within the value chain as a matter of course —

VIDEO: Zones versus compartments in biosecurity

VIDEO: Zones versus compartments in biosecurity

Experts define zoning as ‘wartime’ disease management, while compartmentalization must take root in ‘peacetime,’ before disease is found

Zoning agreements and compartmentalization programs are similar and can be complementary — but they are not the same thing. Zoning refers to an area set up by authorities in the face of an active infection — colloquially described as “wartime” prevention. Zones are set out geographically, CPC veterinary counsellor Dr. Egan Brockhoff said. Within that


Are Manitoba hog producers on the verge of viral spring? As the seasons turn, the risk of livestock disease is climbing in the province.

PED outbreak hits record levels

An atypical, and ongoing, fall-winter outbreak has experts worried about what spring will bring

Ordinarily the risk of PED infections in Manitoba hog herds rises with the temperatures in the spring. But for the first time, this year the sector is heading into the usual risk season with an epidemic outbreak already raging. As of March 30, Manitoba’s office of the chief veterinary officer (CVO) had confirmed 88 cases

File photo of a U.S. veterinary medical officer examining tissue samples for avian influenza virus. (Suzanne Deblois photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

High-path avian flu drops into southwestern Ontario

H5N1 confirmed on poultry farm

Ontario’s feather sector is moving to a “heightened biosecurity advisory” after highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed this weekend in a poultry flock. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday it had confirmed high-path H5N1 in a flock in southern Ontario, a day after the Ontario Feather Board Command Centre (FBCC) published a report of