RECAP: 47th annual Sask Pork Industry Symposium

Nov 25, 2024

For the 47th time in its history, the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium has come to a close after another successful event.

This was the second year in a row with record attendance with more than 300 guests present for the two-day event in Saskatoon.

With the increase in attendees, there was a continued sign of optimism and growth in the room which led to a new number of exhibitors attending Symposium.

There were 25 booths displaying industry advances, a number no Symposium has witnessed before.

It was another exciting list of speakers headlined by Dr. Temple Grandin, Kevin Grier and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois providing industry insights and advice for producers to take home and apply to day-to-day production.

An update from the Canadian Pork Council and Executive Director Stephen Heckbert was refreshing to see how its recent lobby day in Ottawa went and what to expect when it came to the update on the Code of Practice. Heckbert reminded producers to share feedback in what they would like to see put in the update.

Another highlight that left many attendees looking for more was the meat-cutting demonstration put on by Canada Pork and butcher Peter Braada from J & G Quality Meats on the second day. The 30-minute session gave guests a new outlook on how to prepare and present different cuts of pork.

Our Awards of Distinction was another opportunity to recognize fantastic accomplishments and success in the pork industry.

This year two awards were handed out.

First, Sunnydale Colony and Peter Gross were given the Environmental Stewardship Award for their work on using new technology for manure injection in the field as fertilizer.

Sunnydale has demonstrated its commitment to environmental sustainability and dedication to our pork industry. It’s also an example that our pork producers in this province are committed to raising a safe, sustainable, affordable, and socially responsible product.

Source : Saskpork

Video: US Soy: Pig growth is impaired by soybean meal displacement in the diet

Eric van Heugten, PhD, professor and swine extension specialist at North Carolina State University, recently spoke at the Iowa Swine Day Pre-Conference Symposium, titled Soybean Meal 360°: Expanding our horizons through discoveries and field-proven feeding strategies for improving pork production. The event was sponsored by Iowa State University and U.S. Soy.

Soybean meal offers pig producers a high-value proposition. It’s a high-quality protein source, providing essential and non-essential amino acids to the pig that are highly digestible and palatable. Studies now show that soybean meal provides higher net energy than current National Research Council (NRC) requirements. Plus, soybean meal offers health benefits such as isoflavones and antioxidants as well as benefits with respiratory diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).

One of several ingredients that compete with the inclusion of soybean meal in pig diets is dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS).

“With DDGS, we typically see more variable responses because of the quality differences depending on which plant it comes from,” said Dr. van Heugten. “At very high levels, we often see a reduction in performance especially with feed intake which can have negative consequences on pig performance, especially in the summer months when feed intake is already low and gaining weight is at a premium to get them to market.”

Over the last few decades, the industry has also seen the increased inclusion of crystalline amino acids in pig diets.

“We started with lysine at about 3 lbs. per ton in the diet, and then we added methionine and threonine to go to 6 to 8 lbs. per ton,” he said. “Now we have tryptophan, isoleucine and valine and can go to 12 to 15 lbs. per ton. All of these, when price competitive, are formulated into the diet and are displacing soybean meal which also removes the potential health benefits that soybean meal provides.”