As of this article’s publication, nearly 45,000 cases of the recently named COVID-19 novel coronavirus have resulted in more than 1,100 deaths worldwide since first reported in China on January 27, 2020. Almost immediately, comparisons were made with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak that also started in China in 2002 and ended up…
A sample collected by Alberta’s swine disease surveillance program has tested weak environmental positive for porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus. The sample was taken from a location in Alberta and analyzed at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s laboratory on January 22, 2020. Alberta Pork is working closely with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry to mitigate any risks…
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) Health of Animals Regulations will change next month, following several years of consultation with industry. The changes, affecting animal transporters, were first announced in February 2019 and will officially come into force on February 20, 2020. The new requirements have been introduced and take an outcome-based approach to ensure…
Are you or your workers headed overseas? Especially with Christmas approaching, increased international travel poses a risk for transmitting serious and foreign animal diseases to Canadian pig herds. For those who visit farms while overseas, extra precautions must be taken, which is why Alberta Pork has developed a biosecurity protocol for international travel. Whether or…
New small producer handbook for reference Alberta Pork has just launched a new resource: our small-scale producer handbook. This handbook serves as a useful reference guide for best practices related to your production. The handbook can also be found on our Small-Scale Production webpage, which includes additional information. For questions about pork production, please contact…
Alberta Pork’s 50th annual general meeting (AGM) and anniversary banquet took place on November 21, 2019 in Calgary, featuring more than 200 guests for the all-day event. Coming together for the betterment of the entire pork industry was a major theme that took shape throughout the day. “We need to have a unified front if…
Alberta Pork is pleased to announce the arrival of Bijon Brown as our new Production Economist. Bijon has joined the team to focus on taking a closer look at cost of production, by collecting information from producers, aggregating the data and comparing it to pricing reports to better understand pork cost margins in Alberta. In…
The 24th Red Deer Swine Technology Workshop took place on October 23, 2019 at Westerner Park in Red Deer. More than 150 guests—primarily producers and their barn workers—attended eight presentations and networked with more than a dozen exhibitors. “Every year, Swine Tech includes premier speakers covering a wide variety of topics relevant to pork production,”…
Overview The latest Canadian federal election took place on October 21, 2019. The overall result was a Liberal victory with 156 of 338 total seats in Parliament, forming a minority government. Leading up to the election, Alberta Pork covered international trade markets, business risk management, African Swine Fever preparedness, general agriculture policy, constituency characteristics and…
Overview The next Canadian federal election will take place on Monday, October 21, 2019. For producers, the next election is an opportunity for the interests of agriculture to reinforced by voting for your local candidate with the strongest background and most favourable policy positions in this area. Approaching the upcoming election, Alberta Pork has previously…