By Bruce Cochrane
Sask Pork is encouraging Saskatchewan's pork producers to take advantage of the Saskatchewan Swine Transport Biosecurity Program before the deadlines.
The deadline for having work completed under the Saskatchewan Swine Transport Biosecurity Program is July 31.
Harvey Wagner, the manager of producer services with the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board, notes the $150,000 program is funded under growing forward 2 jointly by Agriculture and Agriculture Agri-Food and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture.
Harvey Wagner-Saskatchewan Pork Development Board:
The Saskatchewan Swine Transport Biosecurity Program is a program that's designed to assist hog producers in improving general farm biosecurity and, in particular transport biosecurity as related to PED or PRRS, any diseases that can be spread through transport.
What the program does is it provides up to a $300 payment for an on farm veterinary visit with a biosecurity component and up to $700 for truck audits and inspections, whether that's on farm or at the truck wash.
So that's $700 dollars per farm site and $300 dollars per farm site, so it's a $150,000 program.
So far we've had about just under half of our farms participate in one side or one component or the other or both.
We'd sure like to see the rest of our farms who are eligible participate in it so there's another half of our farms that haven't really yet participated.
Wager notes work under the program has to have been done between August 1, 2014 and July 31, 2015.
He stresses all applications must be received by Sask Pork by August 5 so, because the program stretches the bounds of the provincial fiscal year, it's a very tight turn around and anything that comes in after that will not be considered.
For more information call Harvey Wagner at 306 244-7752 or email hwagner@saskpork.com.
Source: Farmscape