Reading Time: 2 minutes Hog industry officials in Western Canada want hog producers to insist that livestock trailers coming to their farms be washed at certified Canadian cleaning facilities — even if the trailers were just cleaned on the U.S. side of the border. The recommendation comes as a federally-approved trailer-wash pilot project, credited with helping to keep porcine epidemic diarrhea […] Read more
West’s hog farmers urged to insist trailers cleaned in Canada
U.S. hog herd ekes out new high as PED impact ebbs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The U.S. hog herd in the December-February quarter modestly grew from a year earlier to a record high for that quarter, according to Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture quarterly hog report. Farmers cautiously added to herds while shoring up their bottom lines following the surge in hog numbers as the industry recovers from […] Read more
CFIA to continue PEDv hog trailer policy until May
Reading Time: 2 minutes Emergency federal protocols that have allowed empty hog trucks coming into Manitoba from the U.S. to be cleaned and disinfected on the Manitoba side of the border will now continue until May. In a producer newsletter Thursday, Manitoba Pork chair George Matheson said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which had previously planned to end the […] Read more
Merck to buy Harrisvaccines to boost livestock portfolio
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Merck and Co.’s animal health unit will buy privately-held Harrisvaccines to expand its portfolio of animal vaccines as the U.S. livestock industry seeks new defenses against diseases, the companies said on Thursday. Financial details were not disclosed. The deal, which is expected to close by year-end, follows rival Zoetis’ agreement, announced […] Read more
PEDv may have entered U.S. on ‘reusable’ feed bags
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) that killed millions of U.S. pigs over the past two years may have entered the country on large bags typically used to transport feed and other bulk products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The report, dated Sept. 24 and released Wednesday, said the agency […] Read more
Less-potent pig virus fuels U.S. hog herd growth, but rate slows
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The U.S. hog herd grew nine per cent during the March-May quarter compared with a year ago, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed on Friday, reflecting better measures to combat a deadly pig virus which resulted in record pigs per litter, analysts said. However, weaker hog prices last quarter eroded farmer profits […] Read more
Pork prices near bottom but should climb soon, analyst says
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Over a year after porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) tore into North America’s hog supply, hog production is on the upswing — but the same can’t be said for prices. “I would say prices are likely nearing the bottom. We should start to rebound here once barbecue season sets in,” said Brad Marceniuk, […] Read more
USDA hog report confirms active herd growth as PED fears ease
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The U.S. hog herd grew seven per cent during the December-February quarter versus the same period last year, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed on Friday, reflecting producer profitability and the less-severe porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus, said analysts. Hog farmers willingly expanded their herds after vaccines and tighter biosecurity measures offset […] Read more
Nursery barn Quebec’s sixth case of PED
Reading Time: < 1 minute Another nursery barn in Quebec’s Monteregie is the site of the province’s sixth case of porcine epidemic diarrhea in hogs, provincial officials said Thursday. The infections were confirmed Wednesday through lab tests on fecal samples from a 5,000-hog operation at St-Aime, about 30 km southeast of Sorel, Quebec’s provincial swine health team (EQSP) said in […] Read more
Two more Que. hog operations confirmed with PED
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two more hog operations in Quebec’s Monteregie — a nursery operation and a finishing barn — have been confirmed infected with porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). Quebec’s provincial swine health team (EQSP) announced Wednesday that the two new cases — both in the St-Denis-sur-Richelieu area, about 25 km northwest of St-Hyacinthe — are “epidemiologically linked” to […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
