Better Pork is published bimonthly. After each edition is published, we share two feature articles online. Each magazine includes much more content. If you enjoy reading the Better Pork articles below, be sure to subscribe to the magazine!
by Geoff Geddes
Ups and downs are facts of life for pork producers, but what happens when you’ve fallen psychologically and you can’t get up?
How do you cope when depression, stress or anxiety appear uninvited and refuse to leave?
by Kate Ayers
While pork remains the third-most popular meat (behind chicken and beef) for Canadians, global “pork consumption is stagnating in established markets at a time when world meat consumption is increasing.
by Geoff Geddes
In some respects, producing pork is like becoming a millionaire: if it were easy, everyone would do it.
In both cases, success hinges on the mastery of many elements. The process sounds intimidating, but profiting in the pork sector – like making your first million – starts by learning from the people who have done it.
Risk Management
by Kate Ayers
Although African swine fever has dominated the spotlight for a year, this disease is not the only one about which the swine sector worries.
by Geoff Geddes
Wanted: pig transport driver. Must be thick-skinned, unfazed by confrontation and able to navigate human blockades. Apply now!
by Kate Ayers
In the ag industry, and especially in the swine sector, producers can collect a dizzying amount of data from their operations. As a result, farmers can face challenges when they try to manage, interpret and best use this information.
However, when properly managed, operational and environmental data can benefit all types of swine production systems.
by Geoff Geddes
Like taxes and rumours of an early frost, passing the farm to the next generation is a topic we’d rather avoid. Given the high stakes and the size of today’s farming operations, however, dodging the subject is just not an option.
Fortunately, if you prepare properly, consult with experts and take it in bite-sized pieces, succession planning can be a life-changing experience.
by Kate Ayers
Breeding sows can be likened to Formula One race cars, says Mark Bodenham, the swine business manager at Masterfeeds at the London, Ont. office.
This company provides farmers with animal nutrition solutions.
by Geoff Geddes
As bomb defusers can attest, some jobs are riskier than others. While pork producers may not risk life and limb, their livelihoods are on the line when times get tough.
In an ideal world, we could eliminate risk and farming would be stress-free. But, for those forced to live in the real world, the next best thing is risk management.
by Kate Ayers
A strong swine herd begins with good piglet gut health, says Dr. Ben Willing, an associate professor in the agricultural, life and environmental sciences department at the University of Alberta.
Indeed, “intestinal health is the foundation for systemic health in all animals,” he says.