The Saskatchewan Pork Development Board reports approximately 100 farms from across Canada will participate in the Western Canada PRRS-Free Herd Certification Pilot Project.
The Western Canada PRRS-Free Herd Certification Pilot Project, a Canadian Swine Health Board initiative administered by the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board, provides a protocol under which pig or semen suppliers can certify their stock is free of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome.
Sask Pork Producer Services Manager Harvey Wagner says, to be eligible, farms must be registered under the Canadian Quality Assurance Program, they must work with a veterinarian who is a member of the Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians and they must agree to conduct minimum amounts of testing.
We’ve had quite a bit of interest.
There will be very close to 100, mid-90s, so we’re very close to our target and I think we’ve closed off the enrollment now because we’re at where we need to be.
We have farms in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward island.
Farms represented are commercial farrow to finish operations, they’re breeding stock companies, there’s feed pig producers, there’s people who are engaged in working toward area regional control.
The one thing they all have in common is that they are free of PRRS or hope to be free of PRRS.
We’ve had a farm or two that have tested and found to be positive and of course, in that case, they can’t participate in the program or can’t participate in the program the way we intended it any ways so they can’t receive certification but we’ve had good response.
Two thirds of the farms are from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and the other third are from Ontario and Quebec.
For more information on the Western Canada PRRS-Free Herd Certification Pilot Project visit PRRSfree.com.
