Year-over-year contraction continued for Canada’s cattle herd at the start of 2021, while newborn piglet counts kept Canada’s hog herd on the rise during the same period, according to Statistics Canada. StatsCan on Monday reported 11.2 million cattle on Canadian farms at Jan, 1, 2021 — down one per cent from the year-earlier date and […] Read more

Canada’s year-end cattle herd continues shrinking
Slaughter beat pre-pandemic pace in second half, StatsCan says

PEDv arrives in Alberta hogs
Veterinary officials in Alberta are now investigating the province’s first-ever outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in hogs. Alberta Pork, the province’s hog producer commission, and the provincial government on Tuesday announced an outbreak of the viral disease at what was described as a “400-head hog operation.” Javier Bahamon, quality assurance and production manager for […] Read more
Out of the fire: Rescued piglets served to U.K. firefighters
London | Reuters — Young pigs that were saved from a fire in southwest England earlier this year have been served to their rescuers as sausages by the farmer who wanted to thank the firefighters for their efforts. The 18 piglets and two sows were rescued after an electrical fault set hay on fire at […] Read more

PED has a bright side if virus kept off Canadian farms
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

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