Stockperson training videos give pork producers head start in training swine barn workers
By Bruce Cochrane, Farmscape & Lynn Redl-Huntington
A series of over 100 videos and printed resources produced by the Canadian Pork Council is helping pork producers get a head start in training new swine barn workers.
The initiative, under which the Canadian Pork Council, in collaboration with the provincial pork organizations including Sask Pork, producers and other pork sector experts from across Canada developed over 100 training resources for swine farm stockpersons will be highlighted as part of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2022 next month in Saskatoon.
Mark Fynn, the training resources coordinator with the Canadian Pork Council, says that teams of subject experts were brought together to provide information for the production of videos and printed resources covering 10 topics including biosecurity, humane transport and husbandry practices that can be used to train new workers.
”Being able to see the task in the videos and best practices that we outline before jumping into the hands-on training can help some individuals learn and understand the importance of the task better ahead of being expected to do it. Not to say it replaces hands-on training. By no means does it replace hands-on training but it provides a nice orientation to the task before a barn worker is expected to do the task or see it first hand,” explained Mark Fynn, Canadian Pork Council, who will lead a Symposium 2022 session at the Saskatoon Inn and Conference Centre on November 15th.
“The other thing is the training is really focused on best practices and that's why we brought in all those industry experts. So, we're providing farms a bunch of high-quality resources they can choose from to supplement their existing training programs at their choice. These resources provide additional opportunity to standardize training across the farm and across the sector as a whole as well and ensure everyone is receiving top notch training. In addition, workers that receive good training tend to want to stick around longer so there may be a benefit to worker retention as well,” added Fynn, who joined Manitoba Pork in 2010 as their Animal Care Specialist and became their Manager of Quality Assurance & Animal Care Programs in 2015.
Fynn noted that these resources are primarily of interest to pork producers and swine barn workers and can be accessed through their local provincial pork organizations.
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. It returns as an in-person event for the first time in two years on November 15-16, 2022.
Purchase your tickets now for the 2022 Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium.
For more, visit farmscape.ca.