T H E P O R K I N D U S T RY

I SMELL BACON!

PUT PORK ON YOUR FORK!INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

• Pigs are not under a quota system• In 2011, 1700 farmers in Ontario produced 4.8

million hogs• Farms numbers are down 90% from 1979 – there

were over 20 000 producers• In 2011, a 100 kg pig sold for $161• It also cost $167 to raise that same pig• Meaning Ontario farmers lost on average $ 6 per pig• Lets visit a hog farm

• 2011 Pork Industry Report

FARROWING (GIVING BIRTH)

• A pig’s gestation (pregnancy) lasts for 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days• On average she gives birth to 8-14 piglets and

produces 2.5 litters/year• She is bred artificially• Lets take a look at the miracle of life

WIENERS

• The pigs are with their mothers for 15-21 days then moved to a different barn• Fed milk replacements and kept very warm (30º

C) • Stay here unit they are 50-60 kgs

GROWING AND FINISHING

PIGS

• Currently most pigs are marketed at 110 kgs (242 lbs)• Depends on what the meat packers desire for weights

PORK INDUSTRY

• Commercially, raising pigs is a very risky investment due price fluctuations

• Hog buildings only serve one purpose – raising pigs• Most hog buildings start at $500 000 to build and

are cement and steel.• Ammonia (NH3)and methane (CH4)gases created by

the manure pits underneath, eating away at steel and cement collapsing roofs and floors after 10 – 15 year life span.

• Very difficult for farmers to recoup their investments

MANURE HANDLING

• Confined pigs are not given any straw or bedding (carbon) • manure falls through the floor into manure pits• Resulting in very toxic and unbelievable smell• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTO9q6MkLC

s

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Pig manure is a terrific fertilizer, full of N, P, K• If manure gets into ground water, the increase in

nitrates ,causes algae and other noxious aquatic plants to flourish, reducing water quality.• Also, manure pits do explode

Foam scraped liquid manure tank

DISEASE

• Pig farmers are very concerned about biosecurity measures• Diseases getting into “closed” barn could mean

economic catastrophe as pigs will die

PORCINE REPRODUCTIVE AND RESPIRATORY SYNDROME (PRRS)  

• Blue-ear pig disease• Was first reported in 1987• Causes reproduction failure in mature pigs and

respiratory tract illness in growing pigs• Costs the U.S industry about $600 million

annually in losses• The virus keeps mutating, meaning vaccines do

not work

PIG EPIDEMIC DIARRHEA VIRUS(PEDV) NEW DISEASE

• Affects suckling pigs the most (3 weeks and younger) • In some cases 100% mortality• Symptoms include severe diarrhea and vomiting• Older pigs are set back, but usually recover• Hundred of farms have been affected and

thousands of pigs

PED CONTINUED

• Experts think the virus is transmitted on trucks as pigs are transported and transmitted through the waste• In Canada, Grand Valley Fortifiers of Cambridge

unknowingly spread PED by selling wiener feed with pig blood plasma …..they had no idea this was the cause• No vaccines have been established• The Americans have lost 15 % of their herd or 52

million pigs• Source: National Hog Farmer

PED VIRUS IN YOUNG PIGS

MEDIA

• Gestation Crates• Pigs are re-bred after farrowing, usually within 3

weeks, sows are placed in gestation crates• Pigs stand or lie downfor the majority of their timeunable to turn around, verystressful and loud