3 The Trusted Source for Canada’s Pork Producers Better Pork | February 2024 Better Pork is published six times a year by AgMedia Inc. 1-888-248-4893 ext 281 Subscriptions@BetterFarming.com ISSN 1497-2271 (Printed) Canadian one-year subscriptions: $22 (six issues; includes $2.53 HST). Two-year: $40 (12 issues; includes $4.60 HST). Single-copy back issues are $12 (including $1.38 HST). U.S. subscriptions: $39.30 annually. International: $66. GST Registration #868959347RT0001 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to AgMedia Inc. 90 Woodlawn Road West, Guelph, ON N1H 1B2 Publications Mail Registration No. 1156 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40037298 Copyright © 2024 by AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any content without written permission of the publisher is strictly forbidden. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute endorsement of the advertiser, its products or services, nor do Better Pork, AgMedia or Farms.com endorse any advertiser claims. The publisher shall have no liability for the omission of any scheduled advertising. Lee-Anne Huber photo 1-888-248-4893 90 Woodlawn Road West Guelph, ON N1H 1B2 PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR PAUL NOLAN ext 202 Paul.Nolan@Farms.com ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR LESLIE STEWART ext 265 Leslie.Stewart@Farms.com EDITORIAL TEAM EMILY CROFT GEOFF GEDDES CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS EDITION MOE AGOSTINO HAYLEY BOWLING ABHINESH GOPAL JEANINE MOYER LILIAN SCHAER ADVERTISING TEAM GLENN RUEGG JENNY LONGSTREET DESIGN & PRODUCTION TEAM TANYA MYERS GREG MARLOW SHAUN CLARK ANDREA WILLIAMS www.BetterFarming.com Learn more about Dr. Lee-Anne Huber's research at the University of Guelph in this issue on Page 12. Here, Huber (right) stands with her student researchers: Cierra Kozole, Nicole Gregory, Faith Kurtz, and Vanessa Kloostra. Cover: Lee-Anne Huber photo, Jodie Aldred photo We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. LETTER FROM THE EDITOR NEW BARN COSTS; PROP 12 TAKES EFFECT Sask Pork in a recent newsletter referenced new reports from DGH Engineering, which looked at updated costs of building a new barn. The Manitoba engineering firm has five new documents showing pricing based on 2,000/4,000-head hog finishing facilities, 1,600/3,200-head hog farrow wean facilities and 5,400head hog nursery barns. Find details at SaskPork.com. Which is where you can also find an informative article asking “Should You Build a New Barn, or Retrofit?” from a 2018 edition of this magazine. The article, written by Treena Hein, urges producers to consider all factors when determining what’s the best decision for your operation. The costs of some renovations can be very high if they require lots of labour. As the article suggests, the removal of a lot of debris, for example, can result in high labour costs. Another labour-intensive task is the pouring of a new pit floor inside an existing structure. In general, a renovation will be 50 to 70 of the cost of a new facility. Sticking with 2018, that was when voters in California passed Proposition 12, called the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, and we’ve been covering the story ever since. (The animal welfare law finally took effect on Jan. 1 of this year.) Pam Lewison, a director at the Washington Policy Center Initiative on Agriculture, wrote in a November policy brief that “the cost of compliance will likely shrink the national hog herd and cause additional consolidation of pork producing farms.” The penning rules under Prop 12 require 24 square feet of space to be available for each sow on a hog farm. On an average farm, the estimated investment to retrofit pens is thought to be approximately $3.5 million. Our Canadian pork industry continues to monitor the situation, as we export millions of live hogs, including weanlings, to the U.S. annually. Paul Nolan
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