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 1428

The Canadian Pork Council says efforts to create a common system for tracking the movement of livestock in Canada are moving ahead rapidly on several fronts.

The Canadian Animal Health Coalition is leading a national foreign animal disease initiative in partnership with national and provincial commodity groups.

The goal is to develop foreign animal disease preparedness plans for each commodity group, to identify necessary legislative changes and to facilitate zoning.

Canadian Pork Council Swine Traceability Committee Chair Clare Schlegel says producers have recognized the need for a structure that increases foreign animal disease preparedness that is simple and cost effective.

"I think it's important that farmers across Canada know that the livestock groups are working collectively together.

Pork, commodity specific, we're working at the Canadian Swine Traceability system and that involves four components.

One is housing the information, a database. The second is answering the question of 'where are the pigs?'

That has to do with the GPS initiative to geo-reference all livestock farms across Canada. The third initiative and the fourth run together.

The one is an ID system for swine which may involve individual animals or groups or lots of animals.

The fourth one, then, is monitoring the movement of these animals...probably beyond where they're currently monitored which is from the farm to the processing plant".

Schlegel says the livestock groups are currently exploring the prospects of forming what's being referred to as the Canadian Livestock Identification Agency.

He says the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency has certainly aided Canada in its response to BSE and being able to do this for all livestock with one data base would allow everyone to react together.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.