Canadian Pork Council members, in Ottawa yesterday for their annual Spring Meeting, welcomed Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau’s funding announcement of $6.1 million for the Canadian pork industry.

“We’d like to thank Minister Bibeau for taking the time to meet with pork producers and leaders of the industry. The projects announced will further strengthen the Canadian Pork Excellence platform and contribute to growing the Canadian economy,” says Rick Bergmann, Canadian Pork Council Chair.

Minister Bibeau announced funding for the three components that comprise the Canada Pork Excellence platform: PigSAFE, PigCARE and PigTRACE. The Canadian pork industry’s PigSAFE and PigCARE programs are on-farm food safety and animal care assurance programs that enable producers to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable pork production. PigTRACE, the national traceability program is critical to quickly managing a disease outbreak.

The funding for these leading-edge programs ensure producers will have the tools to implement them on-farm. The support for traceability, the funding will enable the development of more efficient ways for producers to submit data and the identification of more effective ways to utilize the data. The Canadian Pork Council received $3.5 million under AgriAssurance for PigSAFE and PigCARE and $354,000 for PigTRACE.

The Canadian pork sector’s effort to expand opportunities was greatly enhanced with the confirmation of $1,232,348 in AgriMarketing program support for a joint domestic marketing initiative of Canada Pork and the Canadian Pork Council.

In addition, the minister also took the opportunity to announce $1,093,730 under AgriScience program for a research project coordinated by the Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement.

Source: Canadian Pork Council which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.