Assiniboine Community College announces new swine program

Nov 18, 2022

Hog barn workers and other pork industry staff will soon have a pathway for professional development, according to Assiniboine Community College and the Manitoba Pork Council.

The Brandon college has announced that a new Swine Production Foundations program will soon join the catalogue.

Why it matters: Workers will be able to access industry knowledge and education on best practices without the need to take a scheduled, in-person class.

The program was developed in collaboration with the pork council and will include the latest information on health and safety, operating regulations, record keeping and barn systems and maintenance, the college said.

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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.