Mariia Tokareva walks behind a sow that has been let out of a stall as part of a University of Saskatchewan experiment.

Sow exercise benefits found lacking

Researchers wanted to know if a middle ground solution between stalls and open housing was a reasonable option

Glacier FarmMedia – Pregnant sows have an intrinsic desire to leave their stalls, say swine health experts at the University of Saskatchewan. But giving sows periodic freedom to leave stalls and move about the barn doesn’t significantly improve the lives or welfare of the animals. Why it matters: Animal welfare is a key concern for […] Read more

Projects looks at hog gut health

Projects looks at hog gut health

Olymel, Canada’s largest pork producer and processor, is working with scientists from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Université Laval on research to better understand the links between pig gut health, food safety and product quality. The project is part of the Canadian Food Innovators (CFI-ICA) research cluster “Using science and innovation to strengthen Canada’s value-added […] Read more

What can we expect Ontario's livestock sector to look like in a post-COVID world?

Comment: Are livestock industries prepared for life after COVID?

Labour, consumer trends, accountability and cross-sector co-operation have to be managed

Are we there yet? Every parent has heard that phrase coming from the backseat. Now, as adults, we are asking that question relative to the pandemic. The end date is unknown, but what can we expect the Ontario livestock sector to look like post-COVID? I heard once that “life can only be understood backward; but […] Read more

Group sow housing deadline could be pushed back

Group sow housing deadline could be pushed back

The National Farm Animal Council has recommended a new 2029 deadline

Glacier FarmMedia – Pig producers in Canada may have another nine years to convert their barns to group sow housing. A report from the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) on the codes of practice for raising pigs in Canada has recommended pushing back the deadline from 2024 to 2029. A five-year review of the […] Read more

About 70 per cent of Canadian pork is exported, so a border closure due to African swine fever would be a crisis.

Hog producers look for swine fever investment

Arrival of African swine fever would be devastating to the Canadian sector

Glacier FarmMedia – Canada’s hog producers are calling on the federal government to invest $50 million over three years to combat African swine fever. In an open letter released Sept. 11, the chair of the Canadian Pork Council Rick Bergmann spells out the impact an outbreak of the disease would have on the industry. The […] Read more


China was forced to cull 60 per cent of its hog herd starting in 2018 because of an African swine fever outbreak.

China’s hog herd recovery forecast questioned

Inventory levels aren’t expected to reach pre-ASF levels this year, and sow herd quality is likely to be lower than before

Glacier FarmMedia – Claims from China that hog production in that country will recover by next year to pre-2018 levels do not pass the smell test, says economic analyst Brett Stuart of Global AgriTrends. African swine fever forced the culling of an estimated 60 per cent of the Chinese herd after an outbreak began there […] Read more

From left: 1-clean water; 2-ammoniacal nitrogen; 3-bio-liquid potassium. The Solugen treatment creates clean water and usable nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, all of which can be put back into farm soils or put into other uses.

Hog manure treatment could limit need for manure pits

Canadian technology separates manure into water, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus

Solugen, a Quebec-based company, is testing a manure separation technology on a hog farm. Widespread implementation of the technology could limit the need for manure pits. The technology was invented to assist in the treatment of liquid residual materials to help simplify wastewater management while enhancing the value of contaminants. It didn’t take long for […] Read more



Workers in protective suits disinfect a pig farm as a prevention measure for African swine fever, in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China.

China announces step forward on African swine fever vaccine

The pork sector has welcomed news that a viable ASF vaccine might be in the works out of China, but it’s early days yet

Glacier FarmMedia – The world may be one step closer to a workable vaccine for African swine fever (ASF), but one expert warns that a local debut is a long way off — if the vaccine makes it to Canada at all. According to a research article, recently published in a Chinese science journal, researchers […] Read more

An aerial view of a pig farm in Tauche, Germany.

Paradise lost looms for German farmers as swine fever nears

As swine fever is found in wild boar in Poland, many worry infected animals will cross the border

Reuters – The German state of Brandenburg has erected about 120 kilometres of electric fencing to prevent wild boars infected with African swine fever (ASF) from straying across the border from Poland and infecting its pig herd. Hans-Christian Daniels doesn’t think the barrier will work. “It looks rather inevitable that swine fever will come,” said […] Read more