Ontario Pork Congress prepares for 2020 at their Annual General Meeting

Oct 30, 2019
By Leslie Stewart
Assistant Editor, North American Content, Farms.com

The Ontario Pork Congress (OPC) held their Annual General Meeting on Oct 23. The meeting took place at the St. Marys Golf and Country Club in St. Marys, Ont. and was attended by over 50 people.

Highlights of the event included the election of the 2020 OPC Executive, the presentation of the Hog Jog’s record-breaking donation, and the announcement of the 2020 Ontario Pork Congress.

Meghan Kirkpatrick was elected President of the OPC for 2020.

The OPIC Hog Jog Community presented their largest donation to date ($57,000) to L’Arche Stratford at the AGM. L’Arche Stratford welcomes individuals with or without intellectual disabilities to live together in a community setting.

2020’s Ontario Pork Congress will be held June 17-18.

2020's OPC Executive

Back (left to right): Francisco Trejo (vice president), Henry Gronestege (second vice president), Kirk McLean, Brent DeVries (director)

Front (left to right): Kevin Varley (recording secretary), Kristy Perrin (director), Meghan Kirkpatrick (president), Tom Murray (treasurer)

Photo Credit: Glenn Ruegg

Video: Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

At a time when disease pressure continues to challenge pork production systems across the United States, vaccination remains one of the most valuable and heavily debated tools available to veterinarians and producers.

Speaking at the 2025 Four Star Pork Industry Conference in Muncie, Indiana, Dr. Daniel Gascho, veterinarian at Four Star Veterinary Service, encouraged the industry to return to fundamentals in how vaccines are selected, handled and administered across sow farms, gilt development units and grow-finish operations.

Gascho acknowledged at the outset that vaccination can quickly become a technical and sometimes tedious topic. But he said that real-world execution, not complex immunology, is where most vaccine failures occur.