Farmscape for June 26, 2014

The chair of Manitoba Pork reports several new initiatives are being undertaken aimed at helping the province's pork producers avoid Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea.
A Town Hall Phone-In Meeting hosted yesterday by Manitoba Pork gave the province's pork producers the opportunity to learn the latest developments with regards to Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea.
Manitoba Pork chair Karl Kynoch says the focus right now is high traffic sites, manure applicators and truck washes.

Clip-Karl Kynoch-Manitoba Pork:
On these high traffic sites we continue working with MAFRD and private vets to try to deliver biosecurity training and just help farmers enhance their biosecurity to keep the highest levels possible on the farms.
We're funding the purchase of biosecurity signage.
We want to get these signs up to alert transporters that are delivering to them about their biosecurity responsibilities as well.
We also want to continue to encourage producers to keep enforcing those biosecurity protocols on their farms.
We're developing pamphlets to help the sites in what they need to do for the biosecurity levels and also to help out the transporters.
We're working to develop videos to demonstrate biosecurity practices when loading and unloading pigs which can be delivered as training by vets as well or other trainers.
We're trying to do what we can to assist in positive ways to help keep the PEDv off your farm.
For the truck washing side, we're helping companies that are looking to enhance their wash capacity to access financial support and acquire permits.
We're also developing a research proposal to investigate ways to reduce time and cost of washing trucks and ways to become more efficient and effective on the truck washing going forward.

Kynoch notes so far the number of Manitoba farms infected by the virus has been contained to two and five of eight high traffic sites that had tested positive for the virus are now testing negative.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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