Behind the Lines - December 2015

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

When news of an explosion in a pig barn in an intensive pork-producing area of Huron County broke in late September 2012, the industry paid careful attention to the tragedy. There were deeply held concerns about the status of the victims and the cause of the incident, which badly burned the farmer, Dann Eedy, and a worker. Part of what was so compelling was that the explosion occurred when work was being done to spread manure, a part of pork production with which every barn operator is familiar.

Better Pork writer Mary Baxter attended court hearings where the contract hog finisher was tried and ultimately acquitted of charges that he had failed to take every reasonable precaution to protect his
employee. Much of this story is gleaned from testimony at that trial.

Eedy's trial is past, but civil lawsuits are ongoing and there are industry-wide implications for how barns are built and how they should be ventilated. There are questions still to be answered and lessons to be learned. And there is a story of courage in surviving and staying in the industry in spite of such tragedy. We profoundly thank the Eedys for sharing their story with Better Pork's readers.

Building design is just one of many changes pork producers have grown used to managing. In the "Second Look" feature on our back page, Jean Szkotnicki, president of the Canadian Animal Health Institute, explains that change is coming to the way medically important antimicrobials are labelled and prescribed. BP

ROBERT IRWIN