The Chair of the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board says health challenges continued to stress the pork sector in 2018 and now we’ve got the worries of African Swine Fever.
In August African Swine Fever was first confirmed in China and it has since spread throughout that country raising concerns that it could potentially spread to North America.
Saskatchewan Pork Development Board Chair Casey Smit says Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea is still with us in Canada, as evidenced by recent cases in Manitoba, but producers have done a good job containing it and when you look at Saskatchewan Alberta and B.C. where they’ve never had a positive case of PED on a farm that speaks very highly of our biosecurity.
Farms here in Canada are much more attuned to what it takes to secure their facilities in terms of entry into the facilities, about washing vehicles, drying our vehicles. We have baking shops now as well that really was drive to get PED out of the system.
I think the level of awareness that we have about the biosecurity needs and requirements that we have in place that have been able to prevent PED especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan here, I think that’s in place that help us to maintain and against possible infection from ASF.
I think producers are much more aware of the risks, of what PED can do to the industry and I think we’re much better positioned to ensure that our biosecurity is as high as it possibly can be to hopefully prevent ASF from arriving on our shores.
~ Casey Smit, Saskatchewan Pork Development Board
Smit says keeping a healthy herd is something Canadian hog producers need to focus on maintaining. He says that’s a leg up on a lot of different countries that we’re able to do that and it’s a big plus for Canadian hog producers.
