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Manitoba ‘on track’ on PigCARE, PigSAFE registrations

Delays have extended deadlines on PigCARE and PigSAFE to January 2024

Manitoba saw a surge of producers registered with the Canadian Pork Council’s (CPC) PigCARE and PigSAFE programs in the last year, but rollout has been slower than first hoped. Why it matters: The Manitoba Pork Council has said the programs, and their increased biosecurity and traceability requirements, are critical for maintaining market access. Just under

George Matheson farms hogs and grain near Stonewall.

Matheson to move on from Manitoba Pork

The Stonewall-area farmer brought ‘years of wisdom’ to the chairman role

Manitoba Pork chair George Matheson will retire from his role after leading the organization through challenges like PED, chronic low prices, and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “There’s never a shortage of challenges in the pig business in Manitoba, that’s for sure,” said Matheson. Matheson stepped into the role in 2015 after almost a


Manitoba pork producers donate to Harvest Manitoba

Manitoba pork producers donate to Harvest Manitoba

The sector has been a longtime contributor to food security groups

Manitoba Pork and H@MS Marketing Services Co-op Inc. have made a donation of a combined $10,000 worth of product and financial support to Harvest Manitoba. The contributions will support communities across the province with high-quality protein and much-needed healthy pantry staples. “We are proud to support food banks across the province with this one-tonne donation

Editor’s Take: Pork sector inefficiently efficient

Has the drive for efficiency gone too far in the pork sector? For the past few decades the drive has been to vertical integration, closely matching production and processing capacity, and larger and more efficient (and far fewer) processing plants. In this MBA-driven world view, any excess surge capacity is viewed as an inefficiency to


Pork producers have long been underwhelmed by the available price insurance and their lack of participation reflects that.

Hog price insurance: D.O.A. from the get-go

RISK MANAGEMENT | WLPIP is available in Manitoba but was never a viable option for hog producers. Why?

Since 2014, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have had livestock price insurance for hogs. It’s been used exactly once. “We were pretty excited when they introduced it because I mean we, at that time, didn’t have a lot of risk management options,” said Mark Ferguson, general manager of Sask Pork. In 2014, Alberta-based Western Livestock Price Insurance

Manitoba Pork Council chair George Matheson and federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announce funding for a two-year pilot insurance program for Manitoba hog producers. (Dave Bedard photo)

Manitoba to pilot insurance program against hog disease risks

Pork council study backed with federal, provincial funds

“Private sector solutions” to manage financial risks caused by disease outbreaks on hog farms are on the drawing board in a new Manitoba-led pilot project that could go nationwide. Coming out of a Thursday morning meeting with hog producers in Winnipeg, federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced $482,158 from the AgriRisk Initiatives (ARI) arm of


Timely records of pig movements are becoming even more important as livestock diseases sweep the globe.

PigTRACE hog traceability program to get an overhaul

Five years after participation became mandatory, not all producers are reporting movements, Manitoba Pork says

The accuracy of PigTRACE, Canada’s industry-led, live animal traceability initiative, is being re-evaluated as the threat of African swine fever looms. “Is it good enough to have 80 per cent of the reports in at seven days or should we have that done sooner?” Manitoba Pork general manager Andrew Dickson asked producers at a meeting in Portage on October 30.




Manitoba Pork swine health programs manager Jenelle Hamblin.

Hog sector biosecurity changes paint target on PEDv

PEDv has not reached the heights this year that gripped the pork industry during Manitoba’s historic outbreak in 2017, but the sector is still on high alert. Nine new cases have been reported in 2018 as of June 18, while 78 of Manitoba’s total 91 PED-positive cases were dubbed presumptive negative as of mid-May. This