A delegation representing Manitoba Pork travelled to Guelph this week to take part in Ontario Pork's 2017 Annual General Meeting.

Canadian Pork Excellence, the Canadian pork industry's new on farm food safety and animal care assurance programme, is in the pilot testing phase, the last step for before national introduction.

Manitoba Pork Chair George Matheson says there are still some outstanding questions with regards to housing gestating sows.

George Matheson-Manitoba Pork

The main issue in the Pig Code of Practice that was debated was sow loose housing.

They've put a deadline of 2024 for a change for moving from gestation stalls to loose housing but there's also a stipulation put in there that, by 2019, suitable alternatives would be discussed and entered into the code.

So producers want lots of discussion in regards to what will be expected of them and what they can do.

They're very much concerned and feel that animal care is very important, that they are the ones on the front lines, they will be the ones making the changes, they will be the ones working with the changes.

So they want to be consulted before this becomes regulation.

Mr Matheson says pork producers are looking for more clarity in terms of what they can expect when it comes to final changes to the Pig Code of Practice.

He says times tends to fly pretty quickly, the code was developed three years ago and were only two years away from 2019 and the general feeling is we have to make preparations now.