New milestone reached in the protection of Canadian pigs and pork industry against African swine fever

Oct 30, 2023

While Canada is free of African swine fever (ASF) and has never had a reported case of this devastating disease, prevention and preparation for its potential introduction into Canada is necessary for protecting Canadian pigs and the pork industry.

Today, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced an important milestone in its approach to protect the trade of live pigs, pork and pork products in the event of an outbreak in Canada. In support of the Canadian ASF Compartment Program and following a consultation done in 2022, the CFIA released National Standards and a National Framework to guide industry in the next steps towards implementing the program.

ASF compartments are the creation of distinct sub-populations of pigs that follow common biosecurity management, surveillance and traceability measures (as described in the standards and framework). These compartments are established prior to an outbreak and are intended to allow for the export of products even if they were to originate from within an infected zone.

The Canadian ASF Compartment Program comprises three key components: National Standards, National Framework, and the Compartment Operator Program. The Government of Canada is responsible for the Standards and Framework for ASF compartments in Canada, which will guide the Canadian Pork Council in developing the Compartment Operator Program. Compartments will be developed and managed by industry with approval and oversight by the CFIA.

The Canadian ASF Compartment Program, is one of the many tools and efforts by federal and provincial governments, international partners and the pork industry to mitigate the risk of ASF in Canada.

Source : Canada.ca

Video: Making budget friendly pig feed on a small livestock farm

I am going to show you how we save our farm money by making our own pig feed. It's the same process as making our cattle feed just with a slight adjustment to our grinder/ mixer that makes all the difference. We buy all the feed stuff required to make the total mix feed. Run each through the mixer and at the end of the process we have a product that can be consumed by our pigs.

I am the 2nd generation to live on this property after my parents purchased it in 1978. As a child my father hobby farmed pigs for a couple years and ran a vegetable garden. But we were not a farm by any stretch of the imagination. There were however many family dairy farms surrounding us. So naturally I was hooked with farming since I saw my first tractor. As time went on, I worked for a couple of these farms and that only fueled my love of agriculture. In 2019 I was able to move back home as my parents were ready to downsize and I was ready to try my hand at farming. Stacy and logan share the same love of farming as I do. Stacy growing up on her family's dairy farm and logans exposure of farming/tractors at a very young age. We all share this same passion to grow a quality/healthy product to share with our community. Join us on this journey and see where the farm life takes us.