bbq pork

Meat sector braces after halt to China trade

Livestock producers and meat processors are still determining the impact as China turns off the tap on all Canadian meat


It’s hard to say how much damage has been done since China announced its sudden aversion to Canadian meat. “It’s a bit too soon to tell to get a real dollar figure on it, because it is a situation where, when we want to sell pork, we’re trying to maximize the value of that product,”

“There certainly could be risk factors that they maybe didn’t fully address last time around, but in many cases you’re also looking at larger farms in swine-dense areas and those in themselves are risk factors.” – Dr. Glen Duizer, Manitoba CVO.

Another 2017 for PEDv?

Manitoba’s CVO says the carry-over of 2017 is lasting longer than expected

It’s shaping up to be another bad year for PEDv in the province’s pork sector. In fact the province says it could easily be on par with 2017, the province’s worst year. On June 18, Dr. Glen Duizer of Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Office (CVO) said 2019 cases were comparable to the same point in time


pigs on the farm

Manitoba Pork pushing online disease response program as PEDv cases climb

Participation in the Manitoba Co-ordinated Disease Response program has grown to 79 per cent in the southeast

The Manitoba Pork Council is hoping to get the final few southeastern hog producers signed on to the first line of defence against PEDv. About 79 per cent of those producers have signed on with the council’s Manitoba Co-ordinated Disease Response program (MCDR). The online information-sharing platform includes information on biosecurity, manure spreading and outbreak

three pigs

Disease concerns highlight risk for pork sector

Wild pigs have become a reservoir for 
disease in other jurisdictions

Manitoba’s growing wild pig problem could spell trouble for one of its biggest economic engines — the pork sector. In parts of Europe they’ve become an impossible-to-control vector for African swine fever. There’s also the risk that the Canadian herd and the much-larger U.S. herd that’s moving north could soon meet and mingle, further increasing

Open season on wild pigs not the answer

Open season on wild pigs not the answer

Unfocused sport hunting will only 
make the problem worse

Is an open season on wild pigs the answer? Likely not, according to most of the experts, who say it’s likely that could actually make the problem worse. Private hunting may actually scatter a sounder and spread the problem unless the whole group is contained, Canadian Pork Council veterinary counsellor Dr. Egan Brockhoff said at


A wild pig sounder can grow very quickly in size.

Wild pigs on the loose: A pending threat in Manitoba

The population of feral pigs is growing and the province doesn’t have a strategy to address it

How many wild pigs are roaming agro-Manitoba? Nobody knows the answer to that question, and that’s going to be a problem for the province. Ryan Brook, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan who was educated at the University of Manitoba has the best handle, and even he admits his numbers are far from certain.

Henrik Thomsen’s Roblin-area hog operation will nearly triple once construction is complete.

High hog prices ‘sure nice’ for expanding producers

Relaxed regulations sparked a building boom in the Manitoba pork industry; higher prices are just the icing on the cake

High hog prices are a boon, but hardly a deciding factor, for hog producers building and expanding in Manitoba. “It’s sure nice,” said Henrik Thomsen, owner of Canmark Family Farming Ltd. “It’s good timing while we’re building.” Thomsen will nearly triple his Roblin-area operation when he adds 3,700 sow farrow-to-isowean spaces, 700 nursery spaces, and

pork carcasses

Pork suffering indirect trade woes

Canada’s canola producers have been in the headlines, but Manitoba’s pork sector says it has been fighting against Chinese tariffs bubbling over from the U.S.

Manitoba’s pork sector wants more attention to its own trade issues with China. The canola sector has dominated the agricultural headlines since sales to China ground to a halt earlier this year. But George Matheson, Manitoba Pork Council president, says pork producers have been fighting the impact of Chinese tariffs for a year. Why it


Government, college staff and companies like Maple Leaf Foods were in attendance as the province announced $300,000 for Assiniboine Community College’s new animal protein-processing training centre April 26.

Making the cut at ACC

The college’s new animal-processing centre will train students for the meat sector, ACC says

There’s about to be a new stream of locally trained labour for the province’s meat sector. Brandon’s Assiniboine Community College (ACC) is preparing for the first crop of students at its new animal protein-processing training centre. The college is expecting about 40 graduates annually out of the centre’s first program. The 11-month class will greet

If and when African swine fever comes calling, Manitoba’s pork sector plans to be ready.

Manitoba prepares for African swine fever

The hog industry is planning ahead and learning from the past

The Manitoba pork sector says it won’t be caught flat footed if African swine fever (ASF) makes its way here. The virulent disease is wreaking havoc in China and industry and government both concede it could be just a plane ride away from Manitoba. “In my opinion, I think you can never be prepared enough,”