Farmscape for March 4, 2014

The manager of producer services with Sask Pork says a positive environmental sample of PED in Saskatchewan has underscored the value of detailed inspection of trucks and equipment coming onto your farm.
Last week Saskatchewan's Chief Veterinary Officer reported a positive environmental sample for TGE and PED was detected on dirty boots in a trailer which had returned to Saskatchewan after unloading hogs at an Iowa slaughter plant.
While the trailer had been washed and disinfected and was found to be free of virus, the boots had not been washed and were confirmed contaminated.
Harvey Wagner, the manager of producer services with the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board, says what it really shows is that small mistakes can be made at many levels.

Clip-Harvey Wagner-Saskatchewan Pork Development Board:
It's not surprising from time to time that there'll be an error by somebody.
People are working hard, they're working against time lines, they can miss something that would appear small but if you don't pay really close attention and do a proper inspection you can miss it.
I think what it really shows here is the power of inspection.
The farm had somebody look at that trailer, do a full inspection, they were ready to do some samples.
They had a sample kit along to test for PED and so they did that and what it showed is that the truck was clean.
The boots were not.
If we don't inspect, if we don't properly look at that type of thing you can spread it.
If the driver had used those dirty boots on a farm he'd be tracking PED all over a farm.
It's just that simple.
What it means is that our farms have to be sure to do a thorough inspection of all the trucks prior to having them come onto the farm if at all possible.
Just because one part of the truck looks clean, the other part of the truck or some of the tools and equipment may not.

Wagner notes many operators now provide clean clothing for the driver to use while on their farms to be sure there is much less chance of any issues.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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