pigs in a barn

Emergency planning summer focus for Ontario Pork

Ontario Pork offering help for producers to complete on-farm emergency plans

For Perth County-area pork producer Tanya Terpstra, completing the On-Farm Emergency Response Planning Guide for Ontario Pork at first “seemed like more paperwork.”  But Terpstra, who operates a farrow to finish operation with her husband Darryl, understands the importance of having a plan in place. Nearly a decade ago their farm suffered a fire in […] Read more

Good biosecurity on farms and at borders is essential to stopping African swine fever from entering Canada.

Addressing the potential impact of ASF

Progress being made on how the Canadian pork industry will handle the disease if it is found here

With African Swine Fever a step away from the North American doorstep, the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) launched a proactive initiative.  Rene Roy, CPC’s first vice-chair, shared the four pillars of action within the year-old African Swine Fever Executive Management Board (ASF EMB) and the goals it hopes to achieve by 2023 at Ontario Pork’s […] Read more

A group of wild boars running in Europe, where the pigs have caused challenges with disease spread. (iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan to license, limit wild boar farming

Moratorium placed on any new farms

Saskatchewan is tightening its rules on wild boar farming, including a moratorium on any new farms, in a renewed bid to keep the province’s feral pig population in check. The provincial ag ministry announced the moratorium Wednesday and said it’s “developing regulations for licensing existing commercial wild boar farms.” Regulations for wild boar and feral […] Read more

The national ASF coordinator with Animal Health Canada, says that if African swine fever is detected in the U.S. or Canada, it would shut down trade and movement and have “unprecedented effects” on the pork industry.

Preparing for African swine fever

Canada is developing a plan and producers urged to tighten biosecurity

African swine fever (ASF) has now been reported in 24 countries since first found in several Chinese locations in 2018.  “This is very alarming,” Christa Arsenault, national ASF coordinator with Animal Health Canada, told delegates at the Banff Pork Seminar last month. “ASF was considered to be a relatively stable disease up until that point […] Read more


Funding available for African swine fever prevention

Funding available for African swine fever prevention

Nearly $3 million in funding for three new initiatives to enhance biosecurity and support the provincial pork sector’s African swine fever (ASF) prevention and emergency preparedness efforts is being made available under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership).  Starting Nov. 5, a new targeted intake will provide funding to Ontario pork producers, processors and other […] Read more

A group of wild boars running in Europe, where the pigs have caused challenges with disease spread. (iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario moves to phase out wild boar farming

Province, feds fund swine fever defense plans

Hoping to improve its odds against African swine fever ever getting a toehold in Canada’s hog herds, Ontario plans to regulate Eurasian wild boar as an invasive species starting in the new year. To that end, the province is making funding available to farmers who actively breed and raise wild boar to “shift to other […] Read more

(Kelli Jo/iStock/Getty Images)

Province invests in prevention, planning, and preparedness for African swine fever

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing nearly $3 million in three new initiatives as part of a coordinated effort to enhance biosecurity and support the provincial pork sector’s African swine fever (ASF) prevention and emergency preparedness efforts. Starting November 5, 2021, a new targeted intake under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership) will […] Read more


File photo of hogs on a farm in the Dominican Republic. (RD-SunPhotography/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. puts up funds to prevent African swine fever

Haiti, Dominican Republic now 'countries of concern' on CFIA list

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday pledged up to US$500 million to prevent the spread of the fatal pig virus African swine fever, after Haiti and the Dominican Republic recently confirmed outbreaks. A U.S. outbreak would likely slash U.S. pork exports and pig prices, hurting farmers and meat companies such […] Read more