Starting March 1, 2019, Alberta drivers seeking a Class 1 (tractor trailer) licence are required to complete Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) to apply for their licence. New drivers working in agriculture now have until November 30, 2019 under the existing process to earn a Class 1 licence and will have until March 1, 2020 to…
Last week, we announced a third and fourth case of the porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus, a disease that causes diarrhea and vomiting in pigs, had been discovered at separate hog operations in Alberta. Today, we are clarifying that the third case was a false positive. As of now, we can confirm three outbreaks of…
For producers certified under the existing Canadian Quality Assurance (CQA) program, a reminder that program obligations are still in place, including your annual validation renewal. If yours is approaching due, please be diligent in following up with your validator. At the Alberta Pork annual general meeting in November 2018, our producers voted to pass a…
A 600-head farrow-to-finish hog operation in Alberta has contracted the porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus, a disease that causes diarrhea and vomiting in pigs. Alberta Pork is working closely with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry to fully investigate this outbreak and prevent the disease from spreading further. This is the second-ever reported case of PED in…
The next Alberta provincial election will occur on or before May 31, 2019. With each election cycle comes the possibility of constituency boundary adjustments. The constituency in which you lived or voted in 2015—the last provincial election—may have changed for this year. By law, the total number of constituencies (87) remains the same in 2019…
Pigs can eat many things, but that does not mean they should. Alberta Pork strongly disapproves the use of any human food scraps as pig feed. By feeding scraps, it is quite possible you are breaking the law, not to mention jeopardizing the integrity of our annual $24 billion Canadian pork industry. In Canada, it…
Lunar New Year 2019—commonly referred to as Chinese New Year—begins on February 5. We are entering the Year of the Pig, the last animal in the 12-year Chinese calendar cycle. Characteristics of the pig include luck, wealth, honesty, generosity and trustworthiness. The Chinese calendar also follows a cycle of five natural elements (Wood, Fire, Earth,…
On January 8, 2019, we announced that a 400-head hog operation in Alberta had contracted the porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus. On January 15, 2019, we provided an update on testing that was taking place at pig sites across the province, including assembly yards, abattoirs and truck washes. In partnership with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry,…
The Alberta Pork Board of Directors, staff and over 700 registered producers congratulate and welcome two board directors taking their positions in 2019. Stan Vanessen of Picture Butte will begin his first term, and Hendrik Fourie of Iron Springs will begin his second term, officially commencing when a board meeting is held shortly after semi-annual…
The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity’s (CCFI) Public Trust Research has shown that millennials—individuals born in the 1980s and 1990s—are changing the way the public views food responsibility. Millennials are now the largest Canadian workforce demographic, meaning their perception of food integrity goes beyond ideological posturing: they are the marketplace for the foreseeable future. CCFI’s…