The National Biosecurity Training Program, developed by the Canadian Swine Health Board, provides training to help pork producers improve their farm's biosecurity and funding for an on farm veterinary visit to review biosecurity practices.

Last month the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan announced a Saskatchewan enhancement program.

Sask Pork Producer Services Manager Harvey Wagner explains the On-Farm Biosecurity Program is a companion program to the national program and producers must participate in the national program to be eligible for the enhancement.

Harvey Wagner-Saskatchewan Pork Development Board

The enhancement program is primarily aimed at getting producers the ability to purchase some equipment to help mitigate biosecurity issues on their farm and also to be able to have another veterinary visit on their farm to help monitor the implementation of biosecurity on their farm.

The veterinary visit portion of the biosecurity program is available to all farms that are participating in the national program.

The value of the program is 150 thousand dollars.

300 dollars per farm will be allocated for the veterinary visits so approximately 45 thousand dollars will be for visits and the balance of around 105 thousand or so dollars will be for equipment.

The money is coming from Growing Forward which is a federal-provincial program.

The government of Saskatchewan is administering it in Saskatchewan so it's Government of Canada and Government of Saskatchewan money.

Mr Wagner notes timelines are tight and producers are being enrolled on a first come first served basis.

He stresses producers must have completed their biosecurity training and had their first veterinary visit to be eligible for the companion program.