Hog barn manure pits across Manitoba will be surveyed over the next few months to help the pork sector get a better grasp of the PED situation in the province.
While porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus has killed millions of young pigs in the US, it has so far only been confirmed on two farms in Manitoba.
The Manitoba Pork Council, together with the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, are now asking producers to submit manure samples from their barns.
"We really need producers to submit samples so we can better understand the spread of PED, so we can understand whether it is spread more or less than what we think," explains pork council chair Karl Kynoch. "If we know how it's spread and where it's showing up, it will help us eradicate it and prevent further spread of it."
They're asking producers to submit samples to the provincial veterinary diagnostics lab one to two weeks before manure application is scheduled, as the test results can than be communicated to custom manure applicators.
"Manure applicators are very concerned about the spread of PED. They don't want to be a part of spreading it," says Kynoch. "They want to know what they can do, which pits are infected and which biosecurity precautions they will have to take to prevent the further spread of PED."
All the costs associated with submitting a sample are covered. Submissions will be accepted from now until October 30th.
Source: SteinbachOnline