Pork Council Pilot Project To Use Alternative Technology

Feb 11, 2015

While 2014 was a very profitable year for most pork producers in Canada and the US, 2015 could be a different story.

Manitoba Pork Council General Manager Andrew Dickson says with the drop in finished prices, margins are going to be a lot tighter in the year ahead.

Dickson notes that increasing hog capacity in the province is also a concern.

He says they're going to be looking at alternative methods to try to increase hog numbers.

"We're going to do some pilot projects looking at alternative technologies to these anaerobic digesters, which are a requirement under the current environmental regulations," he said. "Hopefully if we can get approval from the province for these alternative technologies, which are essentially multiple cell settling systems, that we'll be able to get some additional capacity built this year or maybe next year."

Dickson adds that the province needs to ease up on barn development restrictions in order to help their cause.

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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!