HyLife’s segmented weaning ramp is designed for efficient work flow, but more importantly, less back-breaking work.

Weaning ramps for piglets gain traction

Almost all HyLife hog barns have put their names in for the invention

[UPDATED; Feb. 10, 2022] It started with a request from the staff at one of the many hog barns associated with HyLife Foods. Weaning piglets was hard on the back: bend down, pick up a 12-pound piglet, vaccinate it, bend to put it down again, this time sorted by sex. Rinse and repeat hundreds of

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


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Canada’s year-end cattle herd continues shrinking

Slaughter beat pre-pandemic pace in second half, StatsCan says

Year-over-year contraction continued for Canada’s cattle herd at the start of 2021, while newborn piglet counts kept Canada’s hog herd on the rise during the same period, according to Statistics Canada. StatsCan on Monday reported 11.2 million cattle on Canadian farms at Jan, 1, 2021 — down one per cent from the year-earlier date and

(Shadowinternet/E+/Getty Images)

PEDv arrives in Alberta hogs

Veterinary officials in Alberta are now investigating the province’s first-ever outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in hogs. Alberta Pork, the province’s hog producer commission, and the provincial government on Tuesday announced an outbreak of the viral disease at what was described as a “400-head hog operation.” Javier Bahamon, quality assurance and production manager for



Ramping up roadblocks for PED

The Manitoba Pork Council has advised additional precautions in southeastern Manitoba, which has seen three PED confirmations in the last week.

With three cases of PED confirmed within kilometres of each other in southern Manitoba, both the province and Manitoba Pork Council are looking to stop the spread of the virus. Read more: Investigators tracking PED infections The pork council has released the following recommendations to increase biosecurity in the affected region: Producers are encouraged to: Park


PEDv spread like wildfire in the U.S., but Canada successfully limited its spread.

Standing tall: How Canada’s pork sector survived the attack of a killer virus

PEDv decimated the U.S. hog herd, but Canada showed how to do biosecurity right

When it comes to finding expert advice on biosecurity, cattle producers might want to sit down with their local hog farmer. The country’s outstanding record on controlling the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus has a host of lessons for the cattle sector, says a swine veterinarian who was deeply involved in Alberta’s battle against PEDv. Start

piglets

High mortality in latest PEDv outbreak

Lapses in biosecurity are proving costly

Porcine epidemic diarrhea has spread to a fifth Manitoba hog barn with devastating effects. “They’re seeing high mortality rates, in the order of 70 to 80 per cent in some cases,” said Andrew Dickson, general manager of the Manitoba Pork Council. “In the feeders barns, they’ve noticed it because it’s hurt production a bit… whereas


Pigs

PEDv either a boom or bust for weanling producers

Staying clean means the difference between 
heaven or hell

For weanling producers in Manitoba, the devastation wrought by porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) elsewhere has a very silvery lining. As their counterparts south of the border and in Eastern Canada haul dead piglets out of their barns by the wheelbarrow, the industry here is getting $90-$100 per head for isoweans and up to $135 for