Saskatchewan puts moratorium on wild boar farms, toughens regulations

Jul 18, 2024

The Saskatchewan government has put a moratorium on new wild boar farms, after decades of expanding feral swine populations.

The province also says existing farms will require licensing and regular inspection.

Toby Tschetter, the chair of Sask Pork, says the regulations will help the industry respond to animal escapes and potential disease outbreaks.

Research from the University of Saskatchewan says wild pigs — a mix of wild boar and domestic swine — became a problem in the 1990s, when many escaped livestock farms and adapted to the Prairies.

The research says the animals have grown their territory at a rate of nine per cent per year in Canada, threatening native species, such as nesting birds, deer, agricultural crops and farm livestock.

It says the pigs have also adapted to frigid temperatures and can breed in any season.

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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.