Manitoba Pork Hosts Virtual Townhall To Address PED Outbreak

Dec 08, 2021

As of Tuesday, Manitoba Pork was reporting 21 cases of the PED virus in 2021.

Manager of Swine Health Programs Jenelle Hamblin says it's unusual to see an outbreak start this late in the year.

"It's something that we haven't seen before. It's new. Cases in Manitoba have typically started in the April-May-June timeframe is when we've seen cases start in previous outbreaks. We've seen cases in October before but they've typically been linked to other cases that had come on earlier. To start an outbreak at the end of October and lead here into December is definitely a new occurrence for us here in Manitoba and looking at these risk factors through a slightly different lens being that it's a different season, different environmental factors are at play."

The majority of the 21 cases are in the southeast part of the province.

Manitoba Pork held a virtual townhall Tuesday to update producers on the situation.

The organization is reminding producers to practice strong biosecurity.

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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.