PED Overriding Issue Facing Manitoba Pork Industry

Jun 30, 2017

BY Bruce Cochrane.

The Chair of Manitoba Pork has echoed the call for federal government support in addressing the recent surge in cases of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in Manitoba.

Representatives of Manitoba's agricultural commodity groups met yesterday with Provincial Agriculture Minister Ralf Eichler to provide input on key issues as he prepares for next month's meeting of federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers.

George Matheson, the chair of Manitoba Pork, says a wide range of issues including trade, labour and the environment were discussed but, specific to the pork industry, the big issue right now is the situation with PED.

George Matheson-Manitoba Pork:

It's unfortunately been a disease that has expanded on us quite rapidly over the past two months.

We now have roughly 40 cases.

To control this disease we need constant testing of farms in the infected area.

The Chief Veterinarians Office for Manitoba has been very helpful but of course it's taxed them to the limit so we've requested assistance for that group so that they aren't completely exhausted and have the help that's necessary.

We're starting to put together what's called an ARCE program, area and regional control and eradication program with the help of the provincial and federal governments to get control of this situation and eradicate the disease from the province and we've received a lot of assistance from the province of Manitoba in regards to this.

Manitoba's Pork industry is also looking for support for its call on the federal government to adopt a Trusted Trucker program, which would allow swine transport vehicles returning from U.S. farms to be washed and disinfected at Canadian truck wash facilities.

Matheson says, considering the current situation, the issue of biosecurity trumps all others right now.

Source: Farmscape

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.