Banff Pork Seminar, Honouring the Past, Embracing the Future

Jan 11, 2016

By Bruce Cochrane.

Sessions looking at consumer perspectives on food that comes from animals, changes in antibiotic use in animal production and the application of genomics to improve animal health will be among the topics addressed this week as part of the forty-fifth Banff Pork Seminar.

The 2016 Banff Pork Seminar will run from January 12 to 14.
Dr. Michael Dyck, a professor of swine physiology and biotechnology with the University of Alberta and co-chair of the program organizing committee of the Banff Pork Seminar, explains the seminar is a pork industry based conference that brings together speakers to address issues that could impact anyone involved in the production and marketing of pork.

Dr. Michael Dyck-University of Alberta:
We've got a couple of key speakers that we're really happy to have.
One of them will be Dr. Temple Grandin from Colorado State University.
Dr. Grandin is very well know for her work that she's done with regards animal handling and she'll be talking a little bit on some of the research she's been doing with regards to consumers'' perspectives and how they see animals and then how that relates to how they see food that comes from animals.

A number of the break-outs that we'll be having, one will be with regards to bench marking.

What are the key things that producers need to be looking for in their production to be as efficient as possible?

Another big topic right now is antibiotic use in pig production.
We're looking at moving away from antibiotic use and what are some of the considerations in that, some of the implications.

Maybe more on the cutting edge, something that we're seeing a lot more of is the application of genomic technologies in pig breeding and pig production so we'll have a session on the use of genomics and how it relates to improving health and health management.

Again we'll be having some celebrations related to the forty-fifth and some activities for networking.

Those are some of the key things that are going on and some of the standard things that we have every year.

Source: Farmscape

Video: WARNING! Rough Start To Breeding Season!!

WARNING! Sheep Breeding Season Begins With A Bang! Breeding season is officially underway at Ewetopia Farms, but it didn’t exactly start the way we planned!

This vlog begins with us sorting through our rams to find the perfect match for a customer’s breeding program. What should have been routine quickly turned dangerous when one of our more nervous rams panicked. In seconds, Arnie’s knee was injured, and then I was slammed hard onto the concrete floor — both of us taken down by one ram!

Thankfully, it was just bruises, but it’s a reminder of how unpredictable and powerful mature rams can be. Once we recovered, it was time to get back to the real work — the start of breeding season.

We sorted the ewes into four breeding groups (two Suffolk and two Dorset), checking parentage as they ran through the chute, deworming those that needed it, and setting aside thinner ewes for session two of breeding season in a month’s time.This staggered approach keeps lambing organized and prevents overcrowding in the barns.

From rogue rams to the excitement of new breeding groups, this episode is full of action. Stay tuned for the next vlog, where we’ll share how we chose the rams for each group!