Alberta Pork’s annual meeting in Edmonton December 9 and 10 was well attended by pork producers, industry representative and government officials. Although there are a number of changes that will occur within the operations of Alberta Pork, it will absolutely continue to contribute is value to the pork industry on producer’s behalf. The new members of the Board of Directors have excellent experience for moving the institution forward.

There are concerns in our pork industry now as how best to proceed with breeding programs and pig management as the financial crisis continues. Looking for good answers will require ongoing discussions with genetics companies, feed suppliers, equipment manufacturers and management specialists. There are no easy answers to all your considerations – critical analysis of data will be necessary to determine which changes to make and how they should be made relative to their impact on both production costs and market returns.

The genetic progress in your breeding pigs can be seen in both the phenotypic data and the genetic evaluations provided by your genetics supplier. The data will give an indication of expected performance in both the breeding and finishing herds.

The breeds of boars and gilts in your herd will determine productivity, growth performance and carcass quality of your market hogs. You will already have seen how each of the breeds of Yorkshire and Landrace work in your in-house multiplication program to provide strong Summit gilts for reproduction as well as how Trailblazers, Pathfinder Durocs and Lacombe boars add to your commercial breeding program, for strong market hogs for growth rate and market quality.

Art Goelema and Les Robinson have experience in assisting producers with analysis of barn performance and hog settlement slips. Please give them an opportunity to discuss your questions for improved herd performance. They will also be looking to give advice on setting up on the eFarm Program to evaluate your in-house herd performance and genetic progress.

Breed	Backfat mm	Loin depth mm
Trailblazer	10.1	65.9
Duroc	10.3	65.6
Yorkshire	9.9	65.1
Landrace	10.3	63.1
Lacombe	10.7	65.2

November performance of gilts at Bloomsbury Farms

Breed	Backfat mm	Loin depth mm
Duroc	10.3	65.6
Yorkshire	9.9	65.1
Landrace	10.3	63.1
Lacombe	10.7	65.2