Farmscape for March 31, 2016

A Ninette area farm has claimed the top honors at the 2016 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair Pork Quality Competition.
The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon hosted its 2016 Pork Quality Competition yesterday.
This year's event attracted a total of 19 entries from across Manitoba.
Jason Care, the Manager-Auditor of Manitoba Hog Grading and the judge of the 2016 Pork Quality Competition, says the carcasses are judged based on criteria that reflects the most desirable pork and the competition provides an excellent opportunity to showcase the quality of the product produced in Manitoba.

Clip-Jason Care-Manitoba Hog Grading:
Basically the criteria, we start off with the carcass weight of the hogs.
Then we measure the fat depth, we measure the loin depth.
They get award points for that, depending on their yield percentage that the hog produces with respect to the carcass index which they ship to processing plants in Manitoba.
Also included in there, they get points for the backfat, loin color.
The loin color is more for European markets, specifically Japan. which like the color so that's included in here as well, marbling which is in the higher demand in the food service industry across Canada and we also award points on the loin eye area, the square surface area due to the size of it and then belly points as well, of course, for the favorite bacon.

The 2016 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair Pork Quality Competition winners included Wellwood Colony Farms at Ninette with both the first place hog carcass and the fourth place carcass, Rolling Acres Colony of Eden with both the second and third placed hog carcasses and Maxwell Colony at Headingly with the fifth place carcass.
Wellwood Colony Farms was also named the inaugural winner of the Grand Agregate Award, a compilation of results over the past 10 years with Rolling Acres Colony at Eden taking reserve.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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