The Western College of Veterinary Medicine is circulating a questionnaire among Saskatchewan swine barn managers and owner-operators to assess their food safety knowledge.

Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food's on farm food safety research chair, with the college's Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Dr. Sarah Parker notes the survey is similar to surveys being conducted in Ontario and the Maritimes.

Dr. Sarah Parker-Western College of Veterinary Medicine

The goals of the survey are to be able to better describe and be better able to communicate what producers awareness of food safety issues are, what their farm management practices are and what they see as future directions for communication and research around food safety issues both for them and for the larger food safety chain.

The types of questions are asking what they know about potential food safety hazards, what types of farm management practices they use, where further research might be focused to help them better implement practices.

In addition they're being asked about what support they need to implement different farm management practices.

Livestock industries and their producers have a long standing history of contributing to safe food production and what we're trying to do is to provide some information they can use to communicate that commitment but also it's important to remember that food safety issues and production practices will be a dynamic situation and producers need support in their efforts to maintain production of safe food but also do it in a cost effective manner.

Being able to communicate what they do and how they do it can help to translate how it gets paid for.

Dr. Parker says, once complete, the surveys will provide a snapshot of food safety across Canada.

She expects an interim report on the Saskatchewan survey early in the new year.