The Canadian Pig Production Practices Survey for Improved Economic and Environmental Viability is intended to assess the resource use of Canadian production systems and validate research that shows North American pork producers have substantially reduced their environmental footprint. The survey was discussed this month during the 2020 Manitoba Swine Seminar.

Speaking to Farmscape, Dr Mario Tenuta, a Professor of Applied Soil Ecology in the University of Manitoba's Department of Soil Science, says background work, including an examination of the efficiency and environmental footprint of global pig production, is complete and the survey will be rolled out across the country over the next few weeks.

"We are targeting about a 40 minute survey. Respondents will need to have some basic information about their production system such as their feed, their ration, number of animals on average that would be through their barns," says Dr Tenuta.

"We're looking at the 2018 production year. We're hoping to get information on water use, energy use and manure storage and application so we can know about the throughput of manure to crops.

"I would say the greatest detail is actually the number of animals in a barn at any given time that belong to certain production classes, in terms of sows, weaners and finishers.

"We're going to want to know the time, so how many days are they in particular stages because production efficiencies and resource use will be quite dependant on the number of days of animals in particular stages."

Information on the Canadian Pig Production Practices Survey can be accessed through the links at soilecology.ca.