Farm-Scape is sponsored by Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork Play Audio Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork.

Farm-Scape, Episode 1166

The Canadian Pork Council is considering adding an auditable animal welfare component to its national 'on farm' food safety program.

Last year the Canadian Pork Council formed a working group which put together an action plan to determine what auditable animal welfare standards would look like, what would be the key elements and how they could best be implemented.

CPC Executive Assistant Catherine Skovil compares the approach being proposed for auditing animal welfare to that already in place under the Canadian Quality Assurance Program for auditing procedures related to food safety.

"One of the keys from our perspective is that we don't establish a new system, that we build on systems that are currently out there like the CQA program and that it would be seen as an additional element...an additional module that producers could sign on to. Producers would have basically two elements to the CQA program, the one on food safety and the one on animal welfare but the same delivery mechanism would be used for each of them.

An auditor would come on their farm, examine the food safety related elements and then separately analyze the animal welfare related elements.

We're really in the initial phases so there's lots to be sorted out but those are the initial concepts, the initial parameters.

The key is that we recognize that it's now time for the industry to talk openly about what it is doing on farms and an on farm auditable program seems like the best mechanism to do that."

Skovil stresses Canadian hog producers provide excellent care for the animals under their stewardship and have been doing so for a long time.

She says they've relied on accepted codes of practice which outline guidelines for the proper care of animals but the industry recognizes the need to more clearly demonstrate to the public that this is what's happening on hog farms.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.