Antibiotic-free pork production to be discussed as part of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2022

By Bruce Cochrane, Farmscape & Lynn Redl-Huntington

A past president of the Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians is suggesting that, as the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture declines, health status is king.

"Antibiotics or Not? What Makes Sense for Your Operation" will be among the topics discussed next month at the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2022 in Saskatoon on November 15-16th.

Dr. Greg Wideman, a veterinarian with South West Vets in Stratford, Ontario, said that a farm that is able to produce pigs without the use of antibiotics could, in theory, have a marketing advantage over a farm that is unable to do that.

“The market does give some signal that there is a consumer appetite for pigs raised on premises or pork coming from pigs that are raised without antibiotics, so under a raised without antibiotics label or similar to that. From 30 thousand feet, health is king and so a farm that is free from certain diseases that drive antibiotic use or a farm that could be made free of those diseases through disease elimination in some form, that's number one. Tied closely with that is the biosecurity of the farm and whether or not the health status can be good and sustainable over time,” explained South West Vets’ Dr. Greg Wideman, who was raised on a dairy farm in Perth County. Dr. Wideman, who received his DVM from Guelph in 2003, focused exclusively on swine starting in 2005, and was active in the formation of South West Vets in 2010.

“These antibiotic-free programs and labels are not all the same. Some of them have restrictions on how animals can be treated within the farm if they need it, how animals are transported to market and those are really important considerations that can make or break the success of the program for an individual farm,” added Dr. Wideman, who will be co-presenting with Dr. Bernardo Predicala of Prairie Swine Centre.

Dr. Wideman, who is a past president of the Ontario and Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians, said that regardless of whether a farm is conventional or some form of antibiotic-free, it's important to look at what is the minimum amount of antibiotics needed to protect the welfare of the pig and protect food safety.

The Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium is recognized as one of Canada’s leading pork industry conferences, attracting more than 250 producers, industry stakeholders and government representatives. Expert local, national, and international speakers share the latest information and trends on hog production, animal health and welfare, new technology, and the global outlook for the North American hog industry.

Purchase your tickets now for the 2022 Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium.

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