By Bruce Cochrane
New funding is being made available to assist Saskatchewan pork producers in improving biosecurity to help prevent the spread of PED.
The Governments of Saskatchewan and Canada have allocated $150,000 in funding through Growing Forward 2 to administer the Saskatchewan Swine Transport Biosecurity Program to help the province's hog producers improve biosecurity to help prevent the spread of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea.
Harvey Wagner, the producers services manager with the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board, says all CQA registered farms in Saskatchewan are eligible to participate.
Harvey Wagner-Saskatchewan Pork Development Board:
The Saskatchewan Swine Transportation Biosecurity Program is the newer version of the last two biosecurity programs that we've had.
Included with this one is $300 per CQA farm for a veterinarian visit to the farm so that they can have a good look at the biosecurity protocols and see how the biosecurity is going on the farm and how it could be improved.
The other part of it is up to $700 for transportation audits so this would be auditing trucks after post washing just to be sure that they're being washed adequately and if there's some issues and how that could be addressed if they're not satisfactory.
That would be a number of washes, more than one.
Most audits wouldn't cost $700 so this would be probably numerous audits up to a value of $700 per farm.
Producers are eligible for payments for truck wash audits and inspections done by approved auditors or inspectors between August 1, 2014 and July 31, 2015.
Applications will be approved on a first come first served basis and all applications must be received by Sask Pork before August 5, 2015.
For more information contact the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board.
Source: Farmscape