New, national Pig Code will come into effect in 2024
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
A new national Code of Practice for Canada’s pork industry doesn’t come into effect for another six years, but SaskPork has made it one of its targeted items for 2018.
Producers will have until 2024 to convert sow facilities over from gestation crates to loose sow housing.
The organization is monitoring producers’ progress in this housing transition, according to Bridget Gray, producer services manager with SaskPork.
“The larger farms are in the middle of conversion right now and that will be an ongoing,” she told Farms.com today. “Some of the smaller producers are having to make the decision on how to go about converting.”
The new pig code also takes into consideration producers who may not have the means to complete a full transition.
A provision within the code allows for gestation crates, as long as the animals have access to “periodic exercise.” That term is still being defined, Gray says.
“There’s supposed to be further guidance coming in 2019 about what the requirements are for exercise for those pigs,” she said.
SaskPork also has PED on its agenda for 2018.
The province’s first and only confirmed cased of PED came in 2015, according to SaskPork’s website.
After Manitoba’s issues with PED in 2017, it’s imperative that biosecurity be at top of mind for pork producers, Gray said.
“Everybody has to participate in biosecurity for it to work,” she said. “A lot of our pigs go to market in Manitoba and they’ve done a good job making sure PED doesn’t get transported back on trucks.
“There may be some new biosecurity programs cropping up in the province in 2018 where producers can earn a little bit of money for biosecurity improvements.”