Farmscape News

Manitoba Pork Applauds Action Taken by Manitoba Government to Cushion Impact of Canada U.S. Trade War

Cam Dahl - Manitoba Pork — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for September 2, 2026

Manitoba pork producers are welcoming action taken by the provincial government to cushion the impact on agriculture of the escalating Canada United States trade war.
On August 22nd a 50 percent U.S. tariff took effect on a broad range of Canadian imports prompting the Government of Canada to announce dollar-for-dollar retaliatory counter-tariffs to take effect September 8th.
Cam Dahl, the General Manager of Manitoba Pork, acknowledges pork and pigs are still flowing into the U.S. tariff-free but we don't know if that's going to change and that uncertainty is putting a damper on the ability of producers to invest in new capacity on the farm as well as the ability of processors to invest in new processing capacity.

Quote-Cam Dahl-Manitoba Pork:
We saw a recent announcement on August 28th from the government of Manitoba that was really designed to help do two things.
One is to support industries that are directly impacted by the tariffs.
But there's a second part to that suite of programming that was announced and that's to help support measures to increase the capacity here in Manitoba, things like supporting increased finishing spaces here in Manitoba to support increased processing here in Manitoba.
Those steps will really help us diversify our markets and also help to build that resiliency especially in our rural communities.
Things like the changes to the Manitoba Agriculture Services Corporation's loan guarantee program, that has increased significantly.
The percentage of a new capital projects that can be covered by that programming has been increased significantly.
Those are very positive moves and something that we have been working with the government of Manitoba for some time.
I was really pleased to see those kinds of measures included in the support package from the government of Manitoba.

Dahl notes Manitoba Pork continues to engage with partners across the United States to impress the importance of an integrated North American hog sector upon federal, state, and local officials.
He says several engagements have taken place over the last number of months with more to come before the end of the calendar year.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Providing Environmental Enrichment Offers a Good Start to Reduce Risk of Tail Biting

Dr. Jen-Yun Chou - Prairie Swine Center — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for September 1, 2026

A research scientist with the Prairie Swine Centre suggests providing pigs with rooting materials they can chew will reduce the risk of tail biting.
Tail biting is an abnormal behavior where one pig chews or bites the tail of a pen mate, raising the risk for reduced weight gain, increased carcass condemnations, higher risk of disease and even mortality.
Dr. Jen-Yun Chou, a research scientist with the Prairie Swine Centre, says we consider tail biting to be a type of redirected foraging behavior so while there are many risk factors a key one is the absence or availability of rooting material.

Quote-Dr. Jen-Yun Chou-Prairie Swine Centre:
Every single farm is different.
You can provide different enrichments, as we call them.
That will reduce some of your risk factors for tail biting.
But at the same time, watch your feeding, feeder space, watch your ventilation, watch your air quality and also watch out for your stocking density.
There are a lot of things that people can do in the barn so, whenever you do have an issue of tail biting, you really have to ask yourself are you putting yourself at a higher risk or how do you lower that risk?
In a Canadian kind of situation, we would like to see some, for example, ropes.
You have to understand what pigs like and what do they, when they forage, what are the traits they're looking for?
They are looking for something they can chew; they are looking for something that they can destroy, destructible and ideally it's edible, so they can ingest, because that goes back to they are omnivores.
They like to pick up things to chew.
So then having ropes, if you can afford to have a tiny bit of sawdust or a tiny bit of chopped straw or anything that they can root, or if you have a jute sack, they can really destroy, they can pull apart and then they can eat it, then I think that's a good start.

Dr. Chou says when the pigs engage in tail biting there is something wrong in the herd, whether it's health or the environment or airflow so you really have to pay attention to these details.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Interaction Among Consumers and Food Producers Builds Trust in Our Food System

Clinton Monchuk - Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 31, 2026

The Executive Director of Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan says when consumers are given the opportunity to interact directly with those who produce their food, confidence in that food builds.
Earlier this month Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan hosted the third Annual Saskatchewan Open Farm Days.
Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan Executive Director Clinton Monchuk says, when people understand how their food is produced, it generates a higher degree of confidence in the food system.

Quote-Clinton Monchuk-Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan:
We had roughly about 36 different venues and locations throughout Saskatchewan for Open Farm Days this last year and it truly was a wide variety of different events that you could take in.
Everything from going to the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon where they had a variety of different booths set up from some of the different commodity groups including SaskOilseeds talking about canola, truly a lot of different experiences there, a way for families and people to just talk about agriculture, all the way to going to commercial farming operations where they could see large-scale modern equipment and ranching techniques.
Really a wide variety of different things that people could see this year.
We know that having conversations directly from farmers or ranchers or people who work in the industry with consumers builds that trust.
Creating an opportunity where farm gates are open to the general public, people can go out and talk to farmers, ranchers, people who work in the industry.
This just creates more trust within the industry and we know through time when people are more confident in their food they're less likely to share things on social media that are not factual with our industry.
Again all these things lead to a higher level of trust and allow us as farmers to continue to use new science and technology to grow food for the rest of the world.

Monchuk says having that opportunity to talk to people and let them understand what truly happens on farms is just nothing but positive.
Further information on the activities of Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan can be found at farmfoodcaresk.org while information on Saskatchewan Open Farm Days can be found at skopenfarmdays.ca.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Warmer Weather Accelerates Saskatchewan Crop Development Allowing Harvest to Advance

Davidson Ugheoke - Saskatchewan Agriculture — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 28, 2026

Saskatchewan Agriculture reports warmer weather is accelerating crop development and allowing the harvest to move forward.
Saskatchewan Agriculture released its crop report Thursday for the period from August 18th to 24th.
Davidson Ugheoke, a Crops Extension Specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, says rainfall delayed on-farm operations in some regions but crop maturity advanced across the province.

Quote-Davidson Ugheoke-Saskatchewan Agriculture:
The last week was relatively warm in Saskatchewan.
We did have some higher daytime temperatures and the evenings were cool.
Harvest has progressed to 11 percent which is significantly behind the 10-year and the 5-year averages of 25 percent and 21 percent respectively.
There were reports of strong winds and some rains across the province.
The humidity stalled harvest operations.
Overall, crops are beginning to turn and the harvest of later seeded crops will begin very soon.
Growers are focusing principally on winter cereals, the pulse crops and every other early seeded crop.
Although rainfall delayed some farm operations in some regions, crop maturity has advanced largely across the province.
This year we had much more moisture than in typical years and it delayed seeding progress significantly and that is reflected in the current harvest rates right now.
To a large extent, growers are getting there but the bulk of the moisture we had in May and in June delayed seeding activities and delayed crop development but right now, we are taking advantage of the high temperatures and crops are developing as they should right now.

Ugheoke says right now we have high temperatures although we still have some of those low cool nights so the percentage of harvested crops should go up significantly over the next week because the fields are beginning to get drier.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

New Pork Research Hub Allows One-Stop Access to Canadian Swine Research

Dr. Murray Pettitt - Prairie Swine Centre — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 28, 2026

Pork producers, swine veterinarians and researchers now have access to a one-stop spot to find resources related to swine sector research in Canada.
Swine Innovation Porc, the Prairie Swine Centre, the Centre de développement du porc du Québec and the Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement have launched a new pork research hub that offers one-stop access to resources related to swine sector research in Canada.
Dr. Murray Pettitt, the CEO of the Prairie Swine Centre, says there's a lot of swine research happening in Canada and getting it out to those who can make use of it can be challenging.

Quote-Dr. Murray Pettitt-Prairie Swine Centre:
What we wanted to do is create one central place where producers and other folks in the swine industry could go and look for research results to solve whatever issue they may be trying to address and it's important that these results are available in both English and French.
There's a lot of good research done in the English part of Canada, a lot of good research done in the French-speaking part of Canada and sometimes language barriers can get in the way a bit of people being able to access and use that information, so we wanted to try and smooth that out.
The articles and videos on the site are very much extension focused and we wanted to create a single collection of verified information all in one location to allow the industry to access them readily.
We're trying to be kind of a one-stop shop for your swine research information.
The hard part and the great expense, of course, is doing the research in the first place but, where we really need to make sure we're putting our best efforts is getting it out to the people who can most use it.
So, we're trying to pull down one potential barrier in this, and that we're translating all articles on the hub into both official languages so that, whether the original article was in French or English, it will be available in the other language so everyone in Canada could access it.

The new web site can be found at porkresearchhub.ca.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Drier Weather Allows Manitoba Harvest to Move Forward

Anne Kirk - Manitoba Agriculture — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 27, 2026

Manitoba Agriculture reports drier weather over the past week has allowed the harvest to move forward.
Manitoba Agriculture released its weekly crop report Tuesday.
Anne Kirk, a cereal crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, says the past seven days were drier than previous weeks.

Quote-Anne Kirk-Manitoba Agriculture:
This last week was fairly dry in much of the province, so we did see a jump on harvested acres.
Winter wheat and fall rye are nearing completion in the central and eastern regions, while there's still some winter cereal crops to be harvested in the southwest, northwest and Interlake.
We're also seeing a significant amount of acres of spring cereals being harvested in the central and eastern regions as well, with a start of spring cereals in the southwest and Interlake and then a good start on field peas as well.
For rainfall we are seeing kind of a mix throughout the province.
Parts of the central and eastern regions are actually quite dry, so they're below 80 percent of the 30-year average so those areas would have been happy with more rainfall throughout the growing season.
We are seeing some drier areas and we're also seeing some areas like the south Interlake and parts of the northwest and southwest regions are seeing more rainfall than normal.
Particularly the south Interlake has accumulations over 120 percent of normal.
In the areas with excess moisture, some of those areas are suffering from some drowned out areas or fields that were completely flooded out.
Then in those areas with excess moisture, it's a bit tricky for crop harvest because we are seeing some staginess or areas where we are still seeing some green growth where other crops are closer to maturity.
Kind of a mixed bag out there and it just really depends on what part of the province you're in.

Kirk says so far, the quality of cereals and the peas are generally good.
She says it's too early to get a good handle on yields we are hearing winter cereals are slightly below average, spring cereals are generally below average and the majority of peas are reported as average.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Humboldt Area Pork Producer Fears Consequences of Escalation of Canada United States Trade War

Florian Possberg - Polar Pork Farms — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 26, 2026

A partner with Polar Pork fears escalation of the Canada U.S. trade war will jeopardise the stability of agriculture and hurt consumers on both sides of the border.
In response to the United States's imposition of a 50 percent tariff on Canadian imports, the Government of Canada has announced counter-tariffs of 15, 25 and 50 per cent on targeted U.S. products effective September 15th.
Florian Possberg, a partner with Polar Pork, says pork has not been targeted but he fears that could happen if the trade war escalates.

Quote-Florian Possberg-Polar Pork:
There's a lot of not only live animals but meat products that are processed on one side of the border or the other and there's a good reason why that happens.
To have economies of scale, processing hams, for example, that may happen in the United States because they've got large ham processors that can do a great job with that.
We may have other areas that we're very proficient at and so, over time, we've allowed our industry to be integrated and, if there's something that cuts that off, that could be very harmful to our whole meat industry.
There's an old adage that whatever should be, eventually will be.
People's egos get in the way and sometimes common sense is not being employed.
So, eventually, we'll come to a new equilibrium based on good business practices.
But, like in any war, what are the casualties along the way before that new equilibrium happens?
That's really the problem that we're facing now.
There's a lot of uncertainty and we just don't know how this thing could end.
But we know that there's a possibility that it's not going to be very nice.

Possberg suggests we would be better off to cooperate and work together for the betterment of both sides.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Saskatchewan Pork Producer Expresses Disappointment in Collapse of Canada U.S. Trade Talks

Florian Possberg - Polar Pork Farms — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 25, 2026

A partner with Polar Pork is expressing disappointment in the failure of the Canadian government to negotiate an extension of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
Although pork is excluded from the list of products targeted by a 50 percent U.S. tariff on a range of Canadian imports that came into effect Saturday in response to the collapse of trade talks, the pork sector is concerned.
Florian Possberg, a partner with Polar Pork, recalls we were told during the election a year and a half ago that we were electing a Prime Minister and a government that was going to settle the outstanding trade dispute within months of the election but things have gotten worse.

Quote-Florian Possberg-Polar Pork:
We're picking a fight with a very big and powerful country that we do an awful lot of trade with.
Having a trade war with somebody that's so important to the economy of Canada, in my mind, we should have done a better job of negotiating a deal before now.
We're told from the American side that Canada really didn't do much negotiating for some eight months.
Meanwhile, we're going around signing deals with unfriendly nations to our American friends and quite frankly to ourselves, the Chinese.
We still have a huge tariff on pork going to China from Canada.
That's never been resolved and we've never been given a good reason why that happens.
To think that China is going to be our savior is completely naive.
We're quite frustrated.
Like with any industry, we need stability and this whole thing is spinning out of control and it is not providing stability.
For that reason, I'm very disappointed that our side hasn't made a much bigger effort to resolve this whole issue.

Possberg says, when you go to war, you don't know what the enemy is going to do and it sounds like we're treating the Americans as enemies.
He suggests we'd be better off to cooperate and work together for the betterment of both sides.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease Remain Active Globally

Dr. Lisa Becton - Swine Health Information Center — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 24, 2026

Finland's first detection of ASF in wild boar, the re-emergence in Vietnam of foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype A and the detection of Classical Swine Fever in Japan highlight SHIC's August global swine disease monitoring report.
As Part of its August eNewsletter the Swine Health Information Center has released its August swine health monitoring reports.
Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease remain active globally.

Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center:
African Swine Fever continues to have increased activity across the globe, including in Europe, Asia and Africa and this includes the first detection of African Swine Fever in Finland in wild boar.
African Swine Fever virus transmission is multifactorial and transmission by wild boar continues to present a significant challenge for the halt or decreased spread within Europe and in other countries.
This does remind us that wild boar do move and are a significant factor when we assess the various mechanisms for them to be infected and then also potentially spread that virus into domestic pig populations.
Foot and mouth disease, specifically serotype A, was identified in Vietnam after an eight-year absence.
Serotype A was detected when they had been dealing with serotype O previously.
The vaccine strategies also need to be reassessed with the different virus detected and concerns were raised that potential livestock movements within the country may have precipitated that outbreak.
Classical Swine Fever was detected in Japan, and also in this particular report are updates on the pseudorabies status in the United States, as well as an overall update of New World Screwworm.

Dr. Becton says the dismantling of a ring in Vietnam that moved more than 250 tons of ASF-infected pork to market also reminds us that the illegal movement of meat or pork products remains a consistent risk factor for ASF spread.
SHIC's swine disease monitoring reports can be accessed at swinehealth.org
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Six 12-Month Research Projects Underway Aimed at Advancing Swine Disease Monitoring and Mitigation

Dr. Megan Niederwerder - Swine Health Information Center — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 21, 2026

Results from six new research projects aimed at Advancing Swine Disease Monitoring and Mitigation are expected within the next six to 12 months.
Six projects, funded through a Swine Health Information Center co-funding partnership with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, are underway aimed at advancing Swine Disease Monitoring and Mitigation.
SHIC Executive Director Dr. Megan Niederwerder says the newly funded projects address research priorities identified through the SHIC plan of work process and include enhancing integration of production and disease monitoring data to provide more early and rapid disease warning, mitigation strategies for airborne diseases, development of novel tools and sample types for improved ASF detection and evaluating swine wastewater to detect emerging diseases.

Quote-Dr. Megan Niederwerder-Swine Health Information Center:
One of the things that SHIC always tries to prioritize is timely research.
We do our plan of work process annually, but we're always ready to adapt and adjust to emerging disease issues as they come up throughout the year.
We always want to look at what are the emerging needs of the swine industry.
As we think about this timely research and the rapid turnaround on projects, it really enables SHIC to provide those project outcomes that drive action for emerging disease prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response for the U.S. swine industry, again always looking for that actionable data from the project outcome so that pork industry stakeholders can apply those on farm and on production sites across systems to immediately provide that producer benefit.
These six projects are also going to be done by six different principal investigators at three different institutions including the University of Minnesota, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's National Center for Foreign Animal Diseases and The Ohio State University.
These investigators are advancing these areas of emerging disease detection and mitigation right now.

Dr. Niederwerder says each of the six projects are 12 months in duration.
They started between November 2025 and June 2026 so we'll see results over the next six to 12 months.
Those results will be made available as soon as they are received from the investigators.
Full details can be accessed through SHIC's August eNewsletter at swinehealh.org.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Rainfall Slows Saskatchewan Harvest but Added Moisture Welcome in Some Regions

Davidson Ugheoke - Saskatchewan Agriculture — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 21, 2026

Saskatchewan Agriculture reports scattered rain showers and thunderstorms across the province over the past week slowed the harvest but the additional moisture was welcome in some regions.
Saskatchewan Agriculture released its crop report yesterday for the period from August 11th to 17th.
Davidson Ugheoke, a Crops Extension Specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, says the harvest was slowed last week as a result of scattered rainfall and some thunderstorms that moved across the province.

Quote-Davidson Ugheoke-Saskatchewan Agriculture:
While this moisture was welcome in certain regions, the early morning humidity shortened harvest windows and created some poor desiccation conditions.
Producers noted they need some more warm temperatures to help advance a crop maturity.
Harvest remains significantly lower than the 15- and 10-year averages, which is at 12 and 10 percent.
It's a little bit better than where we were last year, which at this time we were at three percent.
Right now, most of the crops that's seen action are the early seeded pulse crops and then the early seeded spring wheat and of course the highest numbers or the highest percentages are the winter cereals and other crops are still developing right now.

In terms of crop damage in the course of last week, we've seen some dry conditions affecting crops.
We still have some increased disease pressure and some insect activities and growers are spraying for that.
We had some minor lodging damage from heat and wind and we had some gopher damages.
However, in terms of the matrix of losses, we don't have those figures out yet, but in the coming weeks we should be able to have specific figures about how much damage we have.

Ugheoke says, as a result of the dry conditions, most of the crops are still maturing.
He says current conditions are conducive for desiccation, which many growers are doing, and he expects harvest numbers to increase significantly, hopefully into the double digits over the coming week.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Rain Delays Manitoba Harvest but Benefits Later Season Crops

Anne Kirk - Manitoba Agriculture — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 20, 2026

Manitoba Agriculture reports rain over the past week delayed harvest but in many cases the added moisture was welcome.
Manitoba Agriculture released its weekly crop report Tuesday.
Anne Kirk, a cereal crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture says rain halted the harvest across much of the province but will benefit later season crops.

Quote-Anne Kirk-Manitoba Agriculture:
There was a good start to harvest through many areas of the province but we did have a large system that had significant rains throughout much of the province.
The southwest region and parts of the Interlake received significant amounts of rainfall and then we did have rains over some of the northwest, central and eastern regions as well.
That rainfall did put a stop to the harvest that had started but we are seeing significant progress on winter cereals and then a start to peas, wheat, barley, and oats as well.
In terms of rainfall, we have seen more rainfall in many parts of the province.
Some parts of the east or the southeast have actually seen less rainfall than normal but the areas where we have had a pretty good amount of rainfall and not too much are seeing very good crop yields so far and good crop development. This rain over the last weekend would have really benefited later season crops like soybeans and corn and sunflowers as well.
In some areas we were seeing that the soil was drying out quite a bit so it's nice to have that additional rainfall for those longer season crops.
Crops for the most part are looking quite good.
In areas like parts of the Interlake that did have significant flooding, people are reporting that their crops are looking much better than expected.
There are some areas that are still flooded and wouldn't be expecting a crop at all but, for the most part, crops are looking good.
Because of that heavy rain, we have seen some lodging in some pea and cereal crops which will cause some harvest complications but, for the most part, yields are looking good and we are seeing good crop progress.

Kirk says, if the weather holds and we don't see rainfall, farmers will be wrapping up the winter cereal corps and moving into the spring cereals, peas and canola over the next week.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea and Porcine Delta Coronavirus Activity Return to Expected Range

Dr. Lisa Becton - Swine Health Information Center — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Farmscape for August 19, 2026

The Swine Health Information Center reports the detection of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea and Porcine Delta Coronavirus activity returned to the expected range in July.
As part of its August eNewsletter the Swine Health Information Center has released its monthly domestic and global swine disease monitoring reports.
SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says the August report noted declines in PED, PDCoV, Mycoplasma and Influenza but increased PCV2 activity and, while PRRS also declined, new variants were found in two states.

Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center:
We saw both Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus and Porcine Delta Coronavirus return to expected ranges in July and this was after being greater than expected earlier in 2026.
Influenza continues to decline with the case positivity in adults at less than 13 percent, which is the lowest July recorded since 2014.
Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae also showed declines.
PCV2 was increased compared to previous months, and then PRRS continues to also decline, but new variants were detected in both Louisiana and Tennessee.
There could be many potential factors that influence the case positivity levels and the decline in these pathogens.
One potential could be that this is just following expected trends for summer months and warmer months.
There could also be less pathogens present due to seasonal changes like the ability to really do deep wash and sanitize as compared to cold weather months.
There's other different things that people are doing, such as herd health strategies to reduce or eliminate diseases that also could impact the case declines in these different pathogens.

Dr. Becton says the advisory group suggested interactions with other pathogens and vaccine effectiveness may be important factors to consider when interpreting PCV2 trends.
She observes the increased PRRS variant detection tells us the virus can transmit through various mechanisms and monitoring helps improve our understanding of these variants.
SHIC's swine disease monitoring reports can be accessed at swinehealth.org.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers