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 1248

The Canadian Pork Council says the mad cow disease outbreak in Western Canada has made government and industry realize the importance of moving ahead with a national traceability system.

The Canadian Pork Council Traceability and Zoning Committee includes producers, industry representatives, veterinarians, and representatives of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Its mandate is to develop a national traceability system for the Canadian swine industry. Committee Member Karl Kynoch says the goal is to develop a national approach to creating a system for zoning and tracking animal movement.

"The focus is to get zoning across Canada. We really need zoning.

If one part of Canada were to break out with a foreign animal disease, for example, at the Ontario Manitoba border where only one road crosses, if we can show through traceability that none of the infected animals have crossed that zone then you would still be able to have part of your country still shipping and exporting.

The other thing we have to get the zoning is we also have to do traceability. We have to be able to prove where these animals have been. For example, if the animals were to leave a farrowing unit and go through the isowean unit and then a feeder unit and then to slaughter and if they've gone to various barns throughout we have to have traceback to know the path of where all those animals have gone. For example, if they've hit ten different barns when we find one barn affected, you have to be able to identify those ten barns immediately.

The faster you can identify those the sooner you can have your free shipping zones set up again."

Kynoch says if a system could be up and running in two years that would be really good. He says the committee had been looking in terms of three years but the mad cow outbreak happening right now is going to make government, industry and producers realize the importance of moving this ahead which is likely to speed up the process.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.