(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Pork supply issues hit Maple Leaf’s Q1 ledger

Reuters — Meat packer Maple Leaf Foods posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit as lower prices and a temporary interruption in supplies hurt sales of its pork products, sending its shares to their lowest in nearly two years. The company, one of Canada’s biggest pork processors, said that processed fresh pork sales were affected by a […] Read more

(Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Field testing underway on Canadian PED vaccine

Field testing is underway and a corporate partner on board for development of a made-in-Saskatchewan vaccine to protect pigs against porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). The University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) said Monday its prototype vaccine, first announced last year, has moved into field testing in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Manitoba […] Read more


(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Manitoba hog producers worry as PED continues spread

CNS Canada — Hog industry officials are increasingly concerned how Manitoba producers will be impacted after another hog farm in southeastern Manitoba confirmed a case of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) on Saturday. The province, which until last week hadn’t reported any new on-farm cases since January 2015, logged new cases in the southeast on May […] Read more

(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

West’s hog farmers urged to insist trailers cleaned in Canada

Hog industry officials in Western Canada want hog producers to insist that livestock trailers coming to their farms be washed at certified Canadian cleaning facilities — even if the trailers were just cleaned on the U.S. side of the border. The recommendation comes as a federally-approved trailer-wash pilot project, credited with helping to keep porcine epidemic diarrhea […] Read more


(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. hog herd ekes out new high as PED impact ebbs

Reuters — The U.S. hog herd in the December-February quarter modestly grew from a year earlier to a record high for that quarter, according to Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture quarterly hog report. Farmers cautiously added to herds while shoring up their bottom lines following the surge in hog numbers as the industry recovers from […] Read more

(Regis Lefebure photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

CFIA to continue PEDv hog trailer policy until May

Emergency federal protocols that have allowed empty hog trucks coming into Manitoba from the U.S. to be cleaned and disinfected on the Manitoba side of the border will now continue until May. In a producer newsletter Thursday, Manitoba Pork chair George Matheson said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which had previously planned to end the […] Read more

(Harrisvaccines.com)

Merck to buy Harrisvaccines to boost livestock portfolio

Chicago | Reuters — Merck and Co.’s animal health unit will buy privately-held Harrisvaccines to expand its portfolio of animal vaccines as the U.S. livestock industry seeks new defenses against diseases, the companies said on Thursday. Financial details were not disclosed. The deal, which is expected to close by year-end, follows rival Zoetis’ agreement, announced […] Read more