Producers Flock To Winnipeg For Prairie Livestock Expo

It was a full house Wednesday at the Victoria Inn Hotel & Convention Centre in Winnipeg for the Prairie Livestock Expo, formerly known as Hog and Poultry Days.

The multi-species event is a chance for producers to connect with companies that service the industry.

Over 160 exhibits were set up on the trade floor and organizers were expecting to see between 700-800 people pass through the doors.

Manitoba Pork's Andrew Dickson serves as chair for the event.

"It's amazing how much new technology is coming in," he commented. "There's more electronics in a lot of this equipment. There's a lot more efforts to try to be more precise about feeding animals and looking after them. More judicious use of things like antibiotics and using the appropriate ones where they're needed. It's different from what it was 20 years ago."

Dickson noted there's a lot of excitement in the livestock industry.

"We're seeing expansion, new barns, with things like dairy, poultry, the sheep industry's expanding. Definitely in pork production, we're seeing more new barns going up," he said.

The expo included a trade show, speaker sessions, wing-eating contest, and pork quality competition.