Last week the federal government announced it will provide Manitoba Pork Council close to 200 thousand dollars for the purchase of equipment necessary to further environmental, animal welfare and food safety research being conducted by the University of Manitoba at the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment.

Manitoba Pork Council Chair Karl Kynoch notes the swine industry is facing constant change and continued research will help ensure that producers are equipped to adapt to that change.

Karl Kynoch-Manitoba Pork Council

The federal government has come forward and committed 200 thousand dollars to the Manitoba Pork Council to be used for research.

We're actually going to use that money to buy equipment to do research out at the NCLE Centre at Glenlea.

The money will go towards buying, for example, were studying alternative housing.

It'll be used to explore alternative housing, sorters, this type of thing.

As we know, in the U.S. it was announced that they were going to put a ban on these sow stalls.

Maple Leaf in here Canada also put a date on eliminating those sow stalls and there's a lot of research that needs to be done.

Right now producers feel we are using the best alternatives and, if we're going to be forced to move away from that, we need to know how the different equipment will work on our operations so there will be a lot of research go towards that.

And also we're always looking at making sure that we stay on top of food safety and food quality.

We'll have to meet with the university and determine some of that and the need for that but we have to make sure we get the best value for that money and that we stretch it as far as we can and get that research done so that it's applicable to the farm.

Kynoch notes Manitoba has always been a leader in adapting to change in the hog industry and producers want to continue to do that.

He says it's gratifying to see that the federal government is showing this level of commitment to the Manitoba hog industry.