Event scheduled for Sept. 13
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
The upcoming Shakespeare Swine Seminar, which takes place Sept. 13 at the Shakespeare Community Centre, will include a keynote speaker with international swine experience.
Theis Hansen, technical service advisor with Denmark-based DanBred International, will give two presentations during the one-day event.
As Ontario hog producers continue to shift towards group housing Hansen’s first presentation will focus on sow group housing and sow feeding.
“I’ll be speaking about some of the systems we use in Denmark, including individual stalls, floor feeding, and feeding in long troughs,” he told Farms.com today. “I’ll also discuss what some of our experiences were using these various systems.”
The second presentation will focus on global competitiveness and the steps Denmark’s pork industry takes to remain an attractive pork supplier.
Ontario’s pork industry contributed $2.7 billion to Ontario’s economy in 201 according to Ontario Pork.
In contrast, and despite regulation challenges, Denmark exported $2.54 billion worth of pork in 2015, according to the Economic Complexity Index.
There are about 1,600 pork produces in Ontario according to Ontario Pork, compared to 5,000 in Denmark, according to the country’s Agriculture and Food Council.
“We have a lot of environmental and animal welfare rules, but somehow (Danish farmers) manage to stay ahead of the curve,” Hansen said. “I’ll give (the attendees) an idea of how farmers manage everyday life in Denmark.”
But why should Ontario pork producers be concerned with what Denmark or other countries are doing?
It’s because all farmers can learn a great deal from one another, Hansen says.
“It’s always important that farmers look to other countries that have more experience in certain areas,” he told Farms.com. “It’s good to tell yourself that you need more experience in something, so looking at other countries to gain that experience is always a good thing to do.”
Other speakers who will appear at the event include a number of Ontario hog producers, representatives from the transport industry and OMAFRA.
The Shakespeare Swine Seminar will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 13 at the Shakespeare Optimist Hall. Registration begins at 4:00 p.m. and the first speakers will begin at 4:30 p.m.
A full list of speakers and registation information can be found below.
