Canadian pork industry gathers to discuss hot topics

Nov 02, 2017

Group discussed revised programs that are to be introduced in 2018

Staff Reporter

Farms.com

Last week, members of the pork industry met at the Sheraton hotel in Ottawa to plan for the continued success of the pork industry.

The meetings focused on three topics, Gary Stordy, manager of public relations for the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), said in an interview with Farms.com.

CPC strategic planning

For this session, the objective was “to further the development of CPC’s strategic plan by developing goals and measures of success for four priority areas,” said Stordy.

The four areas of priority are “enhancing value, managing risks, building public trust and ensuring organizational excellence.”

Swine Innovation Porc (SIP)
At this session, members of the pork industry considered providing “guidance to SIP in the development of its business plan, and if SIP should expand its mandate beyond the administration of the national swine cluster,” Stordy said.

SIP is an organization that encourages research and development in the country’s swine industry, according to its website.

PigSafe and PigCare

For this session, industry members reviewed what will be required from the CPC and provincial pork organizations to “facilitate the rollout out of the revised Canadian Quality Assurance (CQA) and Animals Care Assessment (ACA) programs,” said Stordy.

“The CQA and ACA components were last updated in 2004 and 2012, respectively,” he said.

With changes in hog practices, including revisions to the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs in 2014, producers suggested that the programs needed to be updated, he explained.

The CPC began those updates in 2015 and producers have since piloted the program.

Currently, the Council is reviewing the CGA and ACA changes to “ensure the end result is streamlined, easy to use, technically sound (and) demonstrates the work (the CPC does) to produce safe, wholesome and high-quality Canadian pork,” said Stordy.

The new components are expected to be available in 2018, he said.

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.