Reading Time: 2 minutes Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Canadian hog producers who have been hit hard by the U.S. country-of-origin labelling law — if they can keep the disease off their farms. “With the PED situation, there is a temporary reduction in the COOL impact,” said Martin Rice, executive […] Read more
PED has a bright side if virus kept off Canadian farms
Pork industry successful at preventing PEDv
Funding from Growing Forward 2 helps pork industry to increase programs to prevent porcine epidemic diarrhea virus
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta’s pork industry is getting another $1.35 million to improve biosecurity and thwart the arrival of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv). “The funding comes at a critical time for our industry,” said Alberta Pork chair Frank Novak. “There’s a sense of guarded optimism for the future after a series of very challenging years.” Alberta […] Read more
Finally some good news for bruised and battered pork producers
PEDv has pushed down hog supply and sent prices soaring
Reading Time: 3 minutes Murray Markert sums up the mood of Alberta pork producers these days in a single word. “Relief,” said the Vulcan farmer when asked about recent record-high pork prices. “The money we’re getting right now will help fill in the hole that most of us dug to stay in the game.” For most, that likely means […] Read more
Iowa company develops vaccine for PEDv
Harrisvaccines working with USDA to obtain a conditional licence
Reading Time: 2 minutes An Iowa animal pharmaceutical company has shipped about 770,000 doses of a new vaccine that treats a deadly swine virus first detected in U.S. herds this year and has spread to 20 states, a company official said in an interview. Harrisvaccines, based in Ames, Iowa, developed the vaccine called “iPED” in August to fight porcine […] Read more
Alberta pork producers on high alert after PEDv reaches Ontario
Alberta Pork rolls out action plan, calls on producers to plug any gaps in their biosecurity procedures
Reading Time: 4 minutes Many of Alberta’s pork producers were gathered at the Banff Pork Seminar when news broke that Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) had been found on a farm in Ontario. But there was also good news — Alberta Pork has a battle plan in place and the province’s 350 commercial producers have a couple of things […] Read more
Optimistic outlook for hog producers in 2014
Feed prices and exchange rates are more favourable, but disease is a concern
Reading Time: 4 minutes As we entered the new year, industry commentators in North America unanimously declared optimism for American and Canadian hog producers in 2014. For once, I agree with them. Regular readers will know that I have been less than enthusiastic about prospects for the Canadian industry in recent years. Last March, I described the outlook as […] Read more
Disinfectant ineffective against pig virus — U.S. study
Stalosan F disinfectant shown effective on PRRSv, but not PEDv
Reading Time: 2 minutes A disinfectant used in the U.S. livestock industry has so far proven ineffective in preventing the spread of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv), a study funded by the pork industry has found. “Our research unfortunately says that Stalosan F, given the conditions in which we tested it, was not effective in killing the PED virus,” […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
