By Bruce Cochrane
The 2015 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair's "Thru the Farmgate" exhibit will feature a brand new swine display and the return of live pigs.
Among the exhibits featured as part of the annual Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon which runs from March 30 to April 4 is Thru the Farmgate a, display designed to give the public a hands on opportunity to learn how various types of livestock are raised in the province.
Susan Riese, the Manager of public relations and consumer marketing programs with Manitoba Pork, says, in addition to a completely redesigned swine exhibit, this year's fair will feature the return of live pigs.
Susan Riese-Manitoba Pork:
Last year we didn't take live animals with us because of the PEDv outbreak.
We were just becoming aware of that and didn't know enough about the disease to really feel comfortable having live animals at the fair.
We've put a lot of protocols in place to make sure the pigs are healthy when they arrive and stay healthy while they're at the fair.
We've got a new pen, we'll be bringing three weanlings and we have a new display component to showcase called Pigtails which is basically the story of how pigs are raised in Manitoba, everything right from breeding to gestation, farrowing, the feeder barn and also talking about some of the byproducts that we get from pigs, so it's really the full gambit.
We're also going to have some interactive activities there and as well, we usually do showcases recipes and things like that.
Riese notes the Royal Manitoba winter fair typically attracts over 100 thousand visitors and, as far as demographics, it's generally all ages from kids with their grand parents to families and even people from outside the province.
Source: Farmscape