Pork Producers Invited to Participate in Economic and Environmental Viability Survey

Pork producers across Canada are being invited to participate in an economic and environmental Viability survey being conducted on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc. The "Canadian Pig Production Practices Survey for Improved Economic and Environmental Viability" is intended to assess the resource use of Canadian production systems and validate research that shows North American pork producers have substantially reduced their environmental footprint.

 

The survey was discussed this month during the 2020 Manitoba Swine Seminar. Dr. Mario Tenuta, a Professor of Applied Soil Ecology in the University of Manitoba's Department of Soil Science, says background work, including an examination of the efficiency and environmental footprint of global pig production, is complete and the survey will be rolled out across the country over the next few weeks.

 

 

We are targeting about a 40 minute survey. Respondents will need to have some basic information about their production system such as their feed, their ration, number of animals on average that would be through their barns. We're looking at the 2018 production year.

 

We're hoping to get information on water use, energy use and manure storage and application so we can know about the throughput of manure to crops. I would say the greatest detail is actually the number of animals in a barn at any given time that belong to certain production classes, in terms of sows, weaners and finishers.

 

We're going to want to know the time, so how many days are they in particular stages because production efficiencies and resource use will be quite dependant on the number of days of animals in particular stages.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.