Farmscape News

Reports of PED in the U.S. Prompt Calls for Steped Up Biosecurity

Dr. Daniel Hurnik - Canadian Swine Health Board — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 23, 2013

The Canadian Swine Health Board is advising Canadian pork producers to step up their focus on biosecurity in the wake of reports of possible outbreaks of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in the U.S.
Possible outbreaks of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, a viral disease that causes severe watery diarrhea in pigs resulting in high morbidity in sows and piglets and frequent mortality in piglets due to dehydration, has been reported in several U.S. states including Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado and Indiana.
Dr. Dan Hurnik, the chair of the Canadian Swine Health Board's Long Term Disease Risk Management Committee and a member of the faculty of the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island, says the situation was just reported Friday so information is being gathered now.

Clip-Dr. Dan Hurnik-Canadian Swine Health Board:
My understanding is it's multiple herds affected not just one and there's an investigation going on and there's attempts to limit spread.
The problem with the epidemic diarrhea virus is that it's never been seen before in North America, so neither in Canada nor the United States which means herds will have no immunity so when it enters those herds it will cause significant disruption and damage.
We've never had a confirmed case in Canada of this disease so all our herds would be susceptible.
What the Swine Health Board and the Canadian industry and the Canadian veterinarians are looking at doing is making sure that we maintain our biosecurity program to prevent the entry of this virus into Canada.
In particular the things we need to be careful of is the health status of pigs coming to Canada and ensure that sanitation of trucks and vehicles that are moving from infected areas into Canada that they're cleaned effectively and that producers are careful about not transmitting diseases.

Dr. Hurnik says, by maintaining biosecurity procedures outlined in the Canadian Swine Health Board's National Biosecurity Standard, producers will be able to reduce their risk of exposure.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

Continued Improvement in Live Hog Prices Projected Approaching Summer

Dr. Ron Plain - University of Missouri — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 23, 2013

An agricultural economist with the University of Missouri anticipates the profitability of North American pork producers will continue to improve as we move toward the first day of summer.
North American pork producers have seen some dramatic improvement in profitability over the past three to four weeks fuelled by the normal seasonal decline in hog supplies, reduced feed costs and higher demand for pork.
Dr. Ron Plain, an agricultural economics professor with the University of Missouri, says typically we get the biggest upward movement in hog prices during May than any other month, oft times adding ten dollars per hundredweight or more to carcass prices and we've done that again this year.

Clip-Dr. Ron Plain-University of Missouri:
Two things happen to push hog prices up at this time of year.
One is the number of hogs available for slaughter tends to decline.
Most hogs go to slaughter at roughly six months of age and summer hog slaughter is pigs born during the winter and we have fewer pigs born at that time of year so there's fewer available for slaughter here as we move into summer.
The other thing, temperatures start to move up.
Not so much in Canada but much more so in the United States.
It gets a little too hot for pigs to be comfortable.
They don't eat as much, don't grow as fast and the net result is when they go to slaughter there's fewer pounds of pork there.
That combination usually gets us the highest prices of the year sometime late spring or early summer.

Dr. Plain notes U.S. hog prices have moved into the low 90s and the futures market is optimistic that they can climb a tad higher as we move toward the first day of summer.
He says, with the largest number of acres of corn since 1937 expected to be planted this year in the United States, we'll be looking at a billion bushels more corn than has even been produced in the U.S. and that could allow corn prices to fall by two dollars a bushel.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

CSHIN Survey Shows Brachyspira Infection Gradually Increasing in Western Canada

Dr. Chris Byra - Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 22, 2013

The latest Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network survey of Canadian swine veterinarians shows the number of farms across the prairies infected by swine dysentery caused by Brachyspira appears to be gradually increasing.
The Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network, an initiative of the Canadian Swine Health Board, provides a forum for swine veterinarians across Canada to share information with their counterparts on swine disease issues developing in their regions.
Dr. Chris Byra, the manager of the Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network's management team, says data gathered through the quarterly teleconference held last month shows, for the most part, things are fairly calm.

Clip-Dr. Chris Byra-Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network:
We're through the winter and into the early part of spring and we didn't see any big spikes of any particular disease.
It was a little bit of Streptococcus suis and a few cases of Erysipelas are occurring where people have eliminated vaccination as a cost saving measure for example but nothing really dramatic.
We did hear about Brachyspira, the swine dysentery bug and there have been, 20 new farms have been identified as having Brachyspira but they're not the hyodysenteriae type, the type that is really severe.
The cases have been primarily in Alberta and Saskatchewan but in the last six months or so there have been cases in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.
The clinical picture on the farms varies from almost no diarrhea to a few that are fairly significant but the number of farms has gradually been increasing in the prairies.

Dr. Byra says the report generated from last month's teleconference is being circulated to swine practitioners and animal health specialists that work with swine diseases and a summary will be prepared over the next few weeks for distribution to producers.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

Strong Demand Anticipated for 2013 Western Canadian Winter Wheat Crop

Jake Davidson - Winter Cereals Canada — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 21, 2013

The executive manager of Winter Cereals Canada expects a strong demand this year in the United States for winter wheat grown in western Canada.
Although dry weather last fall prompted farmers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to cut the number of acres seeded to fall seeded cereal crops those crops have come through the winter in good condition.
Jake Davidson, the executive manager of Winter Cereals Canada, says marketing opportunities for winter wheat are looking good.

Clip-Jake Davidson-Winter Cereals Canada:
We made a name for ourselves last year.
When the U.S. market was in bad shape, when they didn't have a crop what happened was that they drew on the Canadian winter wheat crop and they saw the high quality of it.
With that high quality winter wheat crop I think we gained some believers.
Dollar wise I haven't heard too much yet but the Wheat Board is offering contracts, there's lots of opportunities to contract your crop with the different organizations so I think it's a good strong market.
I think things are looking pretty good.
There's nothing like a happy customer to have them come back.
When people want the crop and they have good experience with it they're willing to pay a little bit more.
I read some things, everything isn't perfect in the U.S. this year.
They're not getting 100 percent ideal conditions which again gives us opportunity and we've still got the rest of the world too that likes our crop.
It's just a matter of last year we managed to move most of it to the U.S. where as typically large amounts went to overseas locations.

Davidson notes there's one year left before CDC Falcon moves to the Canada Western General Purpose class from Canada Western Red Winter while other varieties will move to the general purpose class August 1 of this year.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

New Fusarium Resistant Wheat Offers New Tool for Preventing Disease

Dr. Anita Brûlé-Babel - University of Manitoba — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 17, 2013

A winter wheat breeder with the University of Manitoba says a new fusarium resistant winter wheat offers farmers a new tool for dealing with fusarium head blight.
Certified seed for AC Emerson Canada's first fusarium head blight resistant wheat, a Canada Western Red Winter Wheat developed at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Lethbridge Research Centre, is expected to be available this fall.
As part of Canada's cooperative testing for new variety registration the University of Manitoba conducted yield and quality trials and fusarium head blight testing in replicated trials in Carman.
Dr. Anita Brûlé-Babel, a winter wheat breeder with the University of Manitoba, reports average fusarium head blight resistance in a susceptible variety would have been around 30 to 40 percent but on average this variety was four to five percent.

Clip-Dr. Anita Brûlé-Babel-University of Manitoba:
Fusarium head blight, as you know, especially in the Manitoba region and southeastern Saskatchewan regions has become more or less a perennial problem.
Some years we have lower levels than others but it's something that we need to be cautious about so having a better disease resistance in this particular variety improves the potential of producing a quality product that is suitable for the food and feed markets.
As you know fusarium, because of the mycotoxin contamination of the grain, if we have too high levels of fusarium contamination in the grain it makes it very difficult to place that product in the market place because of the food and feed safety issues that go along with it.
In combination with other management practices, having a variety that is showing levels of resistance similar to this actually improves the producers' probability of having a quality product that can be marketed.

Dr. Brûlé-Babel notes overall the new variety was slightly lower yielding than the check varieties but suggests the difference was not statistically significant.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

Increased Communications Among Livestock Producers Improves Ability to Answer Consumer's Animal Welfare Questions

Brenda Bazylewski - Manitoba Egg Farmers — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 17, 2013

The chair of the Provincial Animal Care Committee says, by sharing information on the latest trends in animal welfare, livestock producers will be better positioned to answer the public's questions about how farm animals are cared for.
The Provincial Animal Care Committee will host its first meeting of 2013 May 23 in Winnipeg.
The committee is made up livestock industry stakeholders who have come together to talk about animal welfare issues, update activities undertaken by different groups and share proactive initiatives that help foster a positive image of livestock producers and how livestock are raised.
Brenda Bazylewski, the director of public relations and communications with Manitoba Egg Farmers and the chair of the Provincial Animal Care Committee, says for the most part the public simply wants to be assured that they can count on farmers to do the right thing.

Clip-Brenda Bazylewski-Provincial Animal Care Committee:
I think that each one of us recognizes the importance of raising the animals and maintaining the welfare and well being of the animals in our care but we certainly realize that there are a lot of commonalities, transportation issues and hauling and so on that we have common parallels with each other and we can share and learn from each other.
So it's about creating a forum where we can come and talk about emerging trends in animal welfare and we can develop sub-committees if we need to and then further look in to do research into transportation and so on.
We recognize that it's an important issue, looking after our animals.
We recognize too that there is a lot of overlap and commonalities that we can learn and share from each other and different groups are doing some wonderful initiatives.
The Dairy Farmers of Canada have their Grazing in the Field promotion that they do once a year and certainly learning from each other has been valuable and will continue to be valuable as well.

Bazylewski says the public is curious about where their food comes from and livestock producers want to align with the public's values.
She says people don't want a lot of detail, they want to know that farmers are moving in a direction that's progressive and are doing the right things by their animals.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

AC Emerson Expected to Set Standard for Winter Wheat on the Prairies

Dr. Rob Graf - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 16, 2013

A winter wheat breeder with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada expects western Canada's first fusarium head blight resistant winter wheat to be of particular interest to grain growers in Manitoba's Red River Valley.
AC Emerson, a new Canada western red winter wheat developed at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Lethbridge Research Centre, offers a very good quality package, good leaf stem and stripe rust resistance and it's the first variety in western Canada of any class to be rated resistant to fusarium head blight.
Dr. Rob Graf, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and a winter wheat breeder for western Canada, expects Emerson to become the new standard.

Clip-Dr. Rob Graf-Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada:
Based on the co-op trials, those results indicated that the best adaptation was in fact in the eastern prairie region so we're talking Red River Valley Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan where it yielded very similarly to the two predominant varieties in that region, those being CDC Falcon and CDC Buteo.
Now, at the same time, because the Red River Valley does tend to be that area of western Canada that is particularly concerned about fusarium head blight, that's where the disease is the most severe, I think farmers will be particularly interested in growing this variety.
The other thing that makes it quite interesting for producers is that the variety CDC Falcon is being reclassified as a general purpose wheat in 2014 and so there's been some real concern by farmers that they won't be able to get as high a price for their CDC Falcon.
In the case of Emerson, Emerson has a much higher protein content, it mills better and so on and is fully eligible for the red winter grades.

Dr. Graf notes the marketer of the new variety, Canterra Seeds expects to have certified seed available this fall.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

Slow Spring Melt Gives Winter Cereal Crops a Good Start

Jake Davidson - Winter Cereals Canada — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 15, 2013

The executive manager of Winter Cereals Canada reports the late snow melt that's delayed the planting of cereal crops this spring has given cereal crops planted last fall a good start.
As a result of reluctance on the part of some farmers to plant into dry soil, the number of acres seeded to winter cereal crops last fall in Manitoba and Saskatchewan fell by about 15 percent from the record plantings in the fall of 2011.
Jake Davidson, the executive manager of Winter Cereals Canada, says the crops have started to emerge, they're nice and green and judging from what he's seen look to have come through the winter in good shape.

Clip-Jake Davidson-Winter Cereals Canada:
The main concern is a winter with no snow cover because the crop goes dormant.
What we're looking for in the spring is regrowth from the crown and if we don't get the snow cover and the ground freezes rock hard and kills off that crown that's a problem.
The other big threat to winter cereals is actually more of a spring threat where we see heating cooling, heating cooling, heating cooling day after day with a lot of moisture so that ice forms on top of the soil.
Things were pretty slow this year in the melt department and we didn't see the big changes in temperature during the time when the temperature was going above and below zero because there wasn't huge jumps between nighttime and daytime.
We all realize it wasn't the most fun spring and that's actually been good for a lot of the winter season crops.

Davidson says the top priority for winter cereal growers right now is to hit the crops with a shot of nitrogen fertilizer.
He says, whether it be a liquid drip or a broadcast application, the trick is to get nitrogen on as early as possible to maximize yields and quality so growers will be looking for the soil to dry off enough to get equipment onto the fields.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

Value of U.S. Dollar's Impact on Pork Exports Expected to Influence Live Hog Prices

Perry Mohr - h@ms Marketing Services — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 14, 2013

The general manager of H@MS Marketing Services Co-op expects the rising value of the U.S. dollar and its impact of U.S. pork exports to play a major role in the value of live hogs during the coming weeks.
Over the past two to three weeks the hog market has rallied with live hog prices going up by about 20 dollars per 100 kilograms fueled primarily by the typical seasonal decrease in marketings and increase in retail demand for pork.
Perry Mohr, the general manager of H@MS Marketing Services Co-op, says while the amount of pork moving out of storage right now indicates demand is strong and we are seeing hog prices increase as a result, export sales will be a key factor to watch.

Clip-Perry Mohr-H@MS Marketing Services Co-op:
U.S exports have been below expectations for this year.
In March they were 18 percent and year to date they were 15 percent year ago levels.
When you're exporting 20 to 25 percent of your total production a decrease of 20 percent has some implications on the domestic market.
Now all of a sudden that domestic market has to absorb all of that pork or they have to find new export opportunities.
One of the things that's a factor in that of course is the strength of the U.S. currency which on Friday rose against all other currencies and that could have some short term implications to the level of exports going out of the United States because now all of a sudden, all of these importing countries, it's costing them more to import that pork.

Mohr says based on what we know about the market right now producers are encouraged to look at hedging a good portion of their supply right out to the end of the year.
He says there's a great deal of uncertainty on the demand side of the equation that could have some negative implications for price so, on the revenue side, producers need to know that they've got some of their hogs locked in.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

Prairie Farmers Expected to Focus on Planting Wheat and Canola

Bruce Burnett - CWB — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 14, 2013

A weather and crop specialist with CWB expects the majority of prairie farmers to be planting more wheat and canola this year.
Due to this year's late spring planting progress to date across the prairies stands at approximately 15 percent complete compared to about 60 percent at this point last year with areas in southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan the furthest advanced.
Bruce Burnett, a weather and crop specialist with CWB, says we've seen considerable progress over the past week.

Clip-Bruce Burnett-CWB:
The majority of farmers are going to be planting wheat and canola this year.
Those are the two crops that we're seeing fairly substantial acreages in.
The canola areas is dropping from its record last year but certainly again a healthy area devoted to canola and the wheat area is increased year on year.
As long as we can continue seeding here through the second half of May without too many interruptions I think we'll probably hit the targets that we have seen for the sown area for wheat.
In terms of the other crops we're looking at a smaller area devoted to barley, an increase in oat area.
Of course these are the crops that one would look to see increases in if we did run into any planting difficulties that would force the farmers to plant into the middle of June or so then we would see some acreage switching to those two commodities more so than anything else.
But, generally speaking, it looks as if we still could get the original intentions at least planted given the current weather that we've had.

Burnett points out we're still in the middle of May so, with the exception of some of the very early seeded crops like field peas, there's still time to complete the seeding of most crops.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

Most Pork Operations Planning to Move to Group Housing Expected to Convert Existing Operations

Dr. Laurie Connor - University of Manitoba — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 13, 2013

A researcher with the University of Manitoba says the majority of Canadian pork producers making the switch to group housing of gestating sows will be looking at converting existing operations.
Facing increasing public pressure to eliminate gestation stalls some of North America's largest pork processors have committed to moving to group housing systems for pregnant sows.
The University of Manitoba, in partnership with Manitoba Pork Council and the Prairie Improvement Network, has developed a computer program to help pork producers planning to switch select the system that will best fit their management systems.
Dr. Laurie Connor, the Head of the University of Manitoba's Department of Animal Science says, in many cases producers will be looking at renovating existing operations to accommodate the change.

Clip-Dr. Laurie Connor-University of Manitoba:
One of the reasons that in Manitoba the interest was and is in actual conversion was because the vast majority of the very larger operations, and this would be over a thousand sows, were built in the mid to late 1990s to around 2000 sort of thing so the feeling was that the actual life span of the structure, the barn, the shell basically would continue on for quite a period of time but what would need replacement would be the equipment.
Then the decision is do we replace the stalls with stalls or do we take that opportunity to convert.
So really the vast majority of the larger barns certainly that are considering group housing would be considering converting.

As for time frames, Dr. Connor notes Manitoba Pork Council is encouraging its members to be targeting 2024 for moving to group housing and recently a number of the larger Canadian retailers have indicated they would like to see stall free pork production by 2022.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

Broad Participation Encouraged During Pig Code of Practice Comment Period

Florian Possberg - Pig Code Development Committee — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 10, 2013

The chair of the National Farm Animal Care Council's Pig Code Development Committee is encouraging broad public participation during the public comment period for a proposed updated Canadian Pig Code of Practice.
The National Farm Animal Care Council is coordinating the revision of eight codes of practice for the care of farm animals in Canada.
Pig Code Development Committee chair Florian Possberg says a draft Pig Code of Practice is now being edited and translated and will appear on the National Farm Animal Care Council web site on or about June 1.

Clip-Florian Possberg-Pig Code Development Committee:
It will steer people to a process to submit comments.
It can be done on line, it can be done in written form and we would encourage anyone that has an opinion to look it over and to respond however they feel is appropriate.
When you have a committee of 12 or 15 people coming up with something that affects all hog production across Canada it's really important for anyone that has concerns or opinions or thoughts to look it over and to decide whether they think it's appropriate so the comment period is important.
We expect the general public to take interest, certainly special interest groups, we already know that they will likely respond as well and of course producers who are directly affected by what ever is in the code certainly want to know what's proposed and give us their thoughts as well.

Following the release of the proposed updated Pig Code of Practice the public will have 60 days to make comments.
The Pig Code Development Committee will then make any necessary revisions and a new code is expected to be in place by December 31.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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

Pork Producers Encouraged to Consider the Advantages of Group Sow Housing

Dr. Yolande Seddon - Prairie Swine Centre — Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for May 9, 2013

A researcher with the Prairie Swine Centre is encouraging pork producers to focus on the advantages offered by group housing as they consider moving away the use of gestation stalls.
In the wake of increasing public pressure to eliminate gestation stalls some of North America's largest pork processors have committed to moving to group housing systems and many retailers are now saying they want to source pork from stall free systems.
Dr. Yolande Seddon, a post-doctoral fellow in swine ethology and welfare with the Saskatoon based Prairie Swine Centre, says if producers in Canada want to maintain market access they are going to have to make changes.

Clip-Dr. Yolande Seddon-Prairie Swine Centre:
It's a large cost and we can't get away from that but I think we shouldn't see it negatively overall because there are lot of advantages and I would like to always put a positive spin on it.
In terms of sow longevity we would like to see some improvements because we know through scientific research that sows that are allowed to move around in a group situation have better fitness, have increased muscle density.
This also leads to more stability on their legs and in fact a shorter farrowing duration.
They have 30 percent greater bone density.
They're actually very calm when you work in a group system.
They're all generally lying down and asleep where as sometimes when you go into a stall barn they can be very restless even after feeding times.
Also we would like to see an increased morale for staff of an industry and greater attention to detail in their stockmanship now that they're actually working with loose animals.
They're no longer just giving food and injections.
They're going to be really stock people looking at the behavior of animals and that can bring a lot of job satisfaction.
And we know that the productivity in a group system can equal to that if not exceed what happens in stalls.

Dr. Seddon acknowledges, considering the economic state of the pork industry, there is some resistance to change but those who have made the conversion would not want to go back to stalls.
She says, where there have been problems with group housing, there have been clear deficiencies in the systems.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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