The Canadian pork sector is ready to tackle challenges and opportunities to ensure its sustainability following the Canadian Pork Council’s fall members’ meeting held this week in Ottawa.

Animal health and disease outbreak preparedness
A large part of the meeting was devoted to issues surrounding the response of the industry following an outbreak of African swine fever. Participants reviewed the collaborative work being done across the government agencies and industry groups to prepare for such an eventuality. Producers, representatives from provincial pork organizations, governments and industry stakeholders then broke out into groups for a tabletop exercise that simulated an ASF outbreak in Canada. Participants were asked to consider the need for information and flow of communications.

“Animal health is vital to a strong pork industry in Canada and animal disease is a possibility that we have to contend with. The pork industry and its government partners are working in close collaboration not only to prevent such an eventuality but also prepare for a disease outbreak,” says Rick Bergmann, a pork producer from Manitoba, and chair of the Canadian Pork Council.

Participants also worked on possible solutions to manage the surplus of animals that would arise should a foreign animal disease in Canada result in the closure of export markets. Several working groups have been working on these challenges and producers’ input is invaluable in working through situations that would impact the future of the pork industry.

Other key files
The Canadian pork industry also discussed some of the other challenges facing the sector. From the loss of the Chinese market, to ensuring producers get a fair price for their hogs and working with the newly elected government, pork producers provided valuable insight to help the Canadian Pork Council represent them at the national level.

Success of the Canadian pork industry in Japan
The Canadian pork industry took the opportunity to welcome friends of the industry to celebrate the successes of the industry, specifically, the 10^th year anniversary of the opening of a marketing office in Japan by Canada Pork International. Since the establishment of the Japanese office, Canadian pork exports to Japan have increased from $865 million in 2009 to $1.28 billion in 2018.

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.