Farmscape for October 28, 2020

The Canadian Pork Council is reminding pork producers, particularly small scale backyard producers, of the risks posed by feeding kitchen scraps to pigs.
The global spread of African Swine Fever has heightened the risk to North America increasing the need for ongoing biosecurity.
Dr. Egan Brockhoff, the Veterinary Counsel with the Canadian Pork Council and a member of the Swine Innovation Porc Coordinated African Swine Fever Research Working Group, says the risk posed by feed remains a concern.

Clip-Dr. Egan Brockhoff-Canadian Pork Council:
When we're talking about feed and feed ingredients, we really want people to be aware of where they're sourcing their products.
Are they from a country that is free of African Swine Fever?
Are they from a country that is positive for African Swine Fever?
Whether it be your soy products or your vitamins and minerals, we want everyone to consider that.
Does your feed mill participate in a biosecurity program, are they part of the Canadian Feed Assure Program?
We want to remind people that in Canada, under the Health of Animals Act, we're not permitted to feed meat or meat by-products or food that is suspected to contain meat or by-products to swine or poultry.
Because the Health of Animals Act prohibits the feeding of meat or meat by-products, we don't have any of those moving through our commercial feed mills or any of our commercially available feed products.
Where this may occur is if someone is feeding kitchen scraps to their animals.
Pigs are a great recycler if you will but a lot of people forget that we're not allowed to feed kitchen meat scraps to them so we constantly have to be reminding people not to feed meat and meat by-products to their pigs.

Dr. Brockhoff says pig owners want to protect the health of Canada's pig herd and have been very cooperative in following the Health of Animals Act but he receives notes almost every day from people who weren't aware they could not feed meat or meat by-products to their animals.
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Bruce Cochrane.

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