By Bruce Cochrane
The chair of the Banff Pork Seminar Organizing Committee says changes within the Canadian Pork Industry over the past several years are forcing both producers and processors to adapt and evolve.
The focus of the 2015 Banff Pork Seminar, slated for January 20 to 22, is adapting and evolving.
Banff Pork Seminar Organizing Committee chair Bob Kemp says over the past few years there have been several changes within the industry and this year's theme relates to the need to adapt.
Bob Kemp-Banff Pork Seminar Organizing Committee:
One of the issues that has really had an impact on the Canadian industry has been the reduction in the sow herd.
The amount of production within the Canadian industry has decreased and certainly I believe that the packing and processing industry in Canada has been looking at ways to ensure that they can compete with especially U.S. packers and processors to ensure that they have supply for their needs.
In addition of course, we continue to see the move towards things like free stall housing and the animal welfare issue, and potential impacts of consumers with regards to the types of products and how animals are raised.
The third factor of course, is that we came through some fairly difficult economic times in the previous years and 2014 was a fairly positive year economically for the pork industry, not without it's challenges of course, but that certainly gave producers the opportunity to look at the future of their operations and where they might be going with regards to potential expansion or trying to make their production and their businesses more financially stable.
And the other major impact is in my opinion, the continued impact of disease.
Source: Farmscape