Sask Pork Targets May 1 for Introduction of New Tattoo Numbers

CANADA - Farm-Scape: Episode 2074. Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork.
calendar icon 28 February 2006
clock icon 3 minute read

Farm-Scape, Episode 2074

Sask Pork is targeting May 1st as the date for hog producers in Saskatchewan to make the switch a new national swine tattoo numbering scheme.

As part of the Canadian swine industry's commitment to the creation of a new national multispecies livestock traceability system the industry has developed a national swine tattoo numbering scheme and is registering all premises that produce swine.

Since January Sask Pork has been collecting premise registration information from swine producers in Saskatchewan.

Sask Pork Policy Analyst Mark Ferguson says premise registration is an important step in establishing a solid traceability system.

"In Saskatchewan hogs are produced at approximately 390 unique locations and we have registered about 285 or 72 percent of these premises.

We've had great cooperation from the larger producers in the province as, of these 285 registered producers, this accounts for 85 percent of the total hog production in the province.

Once we have received registration information for 100 percent of the known premises in the province, we will start issuing new tattoo numbers to all the producers.

These unique identifiers basically form the basis of the traceability system.

We are hoping to have 100 percent of the premises registered by the middle of March then we will issue the tattoo numbers to all producers by the end of March-beginning of April and then we would like them to begin using the tattoo numbers on the first of May. Ferguson says it appears producers have read the information and most understand it and realize that traceability is going to be of great importance to the industry.

He says, with 72 percent of the forms returned already, the registration process in Saskatchewan is on track to be completed by the middle of March.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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