Banff Pork Seminar
January 19 - 22, 2010

The pork industry is and always will be a commodity business. Individual firms can succeed and prosper by differentiating and adding value, but for the industry as a whole, differentiation is not an answer to the challenges and opportunities that are being faced. If governments focus too much attention on differentiation, we run the risk of diverting resources from the areas that need most attention. In contrast, hear the view on how “branding” works and why we should invest in Pork Marketing Canada's “Buy Canadian” campaign.

Presentation of the latest research on sow nutrition and grow-finish nutrition. These results can help feed companies and nutritionists formulate diets that will reduce feed costs.

A new swine veterinary practice surveillance system has been developed for western Canada. Learn how the information will be used for tracking disease problems. Will this program be able to deliver practical help for veterinarians & producers as promised?

Hedging the prices of pigs and feed – does it work in today's market? How to maximize profit on upturn of the cycle; how to prepare to maximize net revenue on the next downturn of the cycle? Two speakers discuss how to mitigate risk by using the futures markets. This is a practical look at using the markets to survive poor markets and capture optimum value during the periods of profitability.

How big a place will antibiotic-free pork have in tomorrow's market? How will the antibiotic ban in Europe affect how we raise pigs in North America? Learn how to produce antibiotic-free pork for export from two companies who are successfully doing it.

The best high value research will be selected for 20 minute theatre presentations and discussion. See what the future will bring in the fields of nutrition, breeding, management and the environment. All research posters will be displayed from 8 am to 5 pm Wednesday and Thursday.

The following forms are available as PDF files:

• Registration for Posters
• Guidelines for Abstracts

H1N1 influenza emerged in 2009 as a world-wide health concern. How do we fare with regards to pandemic preparedness? What's happening with human flu and transmission between pigs and people? The first case of novel H1N1 in a pig herd - clinical presentation and regulatory response.

Learn about the current trends in achieving reduced feeding costs in UK, Europe and Australia. Alternative ingredients and products can be used to reduce herd feed cost / kg. gain. How do you formulate with “opportunity feeds” to include them in swine diets? Formulate for nutrients, not feedstuffs. Reducing feed costs may reduce performance, but will lower cost compensate?

Investing for better production or cutting costs to survive – what's the right answer? Is achieving 30 pigs/sow/year a reasonable goal in the current economic market for pork? -Discuss the impact of different management approaches on the bottom line”, including weaning age & feeder type. Get practical tips on trouble-shooting reproductive problems in your boars and sows.

Some quality standards set by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are higher than required by export customers. This raises costs and decreases our export competitiveness. CFIA has changed roles from one of inspection & facilitation to that of regulator. Is there a perception/misconception of what the consumer wants? What is the best strategy for Canadian meat export value-chain? Should Canada try to meet the demands for all export markets or choose the few best and meet only those countries regulations/production standards?

What are the next movements in animal welfare? Where is the pork industry headed? We must be aware of what is coming. Reducing losses from farm scale to stunner - what farms, truckers and plants can do to reduce transport losses will ultimately increase profits. Animal Welfare Audits - some retailers want third party verification of welfare. Will audits be pushed back into the barn? Options & alternatives for castration - Is castration actually necessary? How other markets manage without castration. Does chemical castration work?

Does genomic information necessarily allow for better selection on multi-gene traits? What progress has been made in selecting for production traits for a competitive North American industry? The sow environment has an important epigenetic effect on litter characteristics that contribute to the grow-finish performance of terminal line progeny. What do we know about the origin and repeatability of the effects?

Hog Industry Loan Loss Reserve Program was established to assist viable hog operations with their short term liquidity pressures by having the Government of Canada share the risk with financial institutions of consolidating short term debt into long term (up to a maximum of 15 years) loans.

The Hog Farm Transition Program assists the hog sector to transition to new market realities by providing compensation of up to a maximum of $75 million to hog producers who wish to stop producing hogs for a minimum of three years. Producers who wish to cease production tender bids for compensation from the program based on the amount of dollars that they would accept to cease their hog production for at least three years. $10.9 million will flow to hog producers once barns are emptied following the tender of November 4, 2009. The second tendering event is scheduled for December 9, 2009.

Hear how these federal government programs will be implemented for the benefit of Canadian pork producers. A panel discussion will follow with evaluation of how these programs are working from the producer's point of view and from a financial specialist with experience with the programs.