Farmscape for February 7, 2013

A new series of videos being produced by Manitoba Pork Council will focus on methods pork producers can use to reduce stress when handling pigs.
Manitoba Pork Council has kicked off the production of a series of videos which will focus on low stress techniques for handling and transporting pigs.
Once complete the videos will be distributed through the provincial pork organizations involved in funding the project including Alberta Pork, Sask Pork, Manitoba Pork Council, Ontario Pork and FPPQ.
Mark Fynn, an animal care specialist with Manitoba Pork Council, says the intent of the videos is to provide pig handling training designed to help reduce stress on workers, reduce stress on pigs, improve productivity and ensure more pigs make it to the plant.

Clip-Mark Fynn-Manitoba Pork Council:
Producers are quite interested in reducing the stress on their animals so that they're more resilient to transport.
You also see with lower stress handling better productivity on the farm, just a more calm animal to work with.
As far as the public goes there's always a concern with animal welfare and improving the animal handling to lead to calmer animals is always going to help to improve animal welfare and animal well being on farm.
The videos are going to be shot at a number of different farms in Manitoba including research farms, some company owned farms, a Hutterite colony as well as in plant and the videos will include all things from basic pig behavior to concepts of pig handling general as well as looking at the specifics to handling pigs of different age categories.

Fynn says the goal is to wrap up production by the start of May and have the video available in May or June.
For more on low stress pig handling or the new video series visit manitobapork.com or contact Manitoba Pork Council directly.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council