Farmscape for May 24, 2005  (Episode 1815)

The Canadian Pork Council expects to have a new western database that will store the information necessary to help contain a foreign animal disease outbreak operational by the end of this summer.

"Pig Trace", which is being developed by the western provinces in cooperation with the packers, will compile and store information from the packing plants on hog numbers in a central database.

CPC ID and Traceability Working Committee Chair Dennis McKerracher says the system is based on premise identification and is designed to integrate into the national multi-species tracking system being developed under the direction of the Canadian Livestock Identification Agency.

Clip-Dennis McKerracher-Canadian Pork Council 

The provinces that have single desk selling have pretty good information with regards to being able to identify all the animals and where they were shipped to.

In western Canada, since we're open market we don't have single desk selling, the information from the packer on animals received does not go to anyone except the producers.

If can compile that information from the packing plants, we would be able to move along quite a ways in having some information available in the event of an emergency so the western provinces are developing a system that they will refer to as "Pig Trace".

Pig Trace, with cooperation from the packers will store the information on the hogs in a central database.

The system that's developed under the Pig Trace system will be harmonized with what the other provinces are currently doing so the Western Canadian Slaughter Database will end up having a national focus.

McKerracher points out the information gathered through Pig Trace will be limited to hogs and hog numbers and will not require producer information such as grade out, index or carcass weight.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council