Farmscape for May 24, 2013

The chair of the National Farm Animal Care Council's Pig Code Development Committee expects a proposed updated Pig Code of Practice to generate broad interest once it's made public.
The National Farm Animal Care Council is coordinating the revision of eight codes of practice for the care of farm animals in Canada.
The Pig Code Development Committee has completed its task of coming up with a draft code Pig Code of Practice which will appear on the National Farm Animal Care Council web site on or about June 1.
Pig Code Development Committee chair Florian Possberg says Canada has a sophisticated process for updating the codes that brings together all interested stakeholders.

Clip-Florian Possberg-Pig Code Development Committee:
It's meant to be more than just an industry thing.
Its meant to come up with acceptable practices that the general public can have confidence in.
The code covers all aspects of the care and keeping of our animals, our hogs.
Its not just about feed and water and shelter.
It is about things to do with handling and what to do with compromised animals, how we house our animals.
The key things that probably are the most controversial are how we house our sows.
There is a lot of discussion around gestation stalls and loose housing, that sort of thing so we attempt to deal with that.
Also what the space allocation needs to be for our growing animals and we deal with that as well.
Probably the next in line would be painful procedures, things like castration and we deal with that as well.

Once the draft code is released, on or about June 1, the public will have 60 days to make comments.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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