A Saskatchewan pilot project is testing new technologies that will help pork producers improve biosecurity and protect their herds from disease. Farm Health Guardian and Saskatchewan Pork Development Board (Sask Pork) are collaborating to trial truck movement recording technologies at over 20 swine farms or businesses in the province.
“Our goal is to test and assess performance of several technologies on trucks that regularly travel between swine properties,” explains Rob Hannam, CEO of Farm Health Guardian, an animal health and biosecurity management software system. Pork producers participating in the project have access to the Farm Health Guardian smart biosecurity software to view truck movement data for their own farm properties.
“Pork producers in Saskatchewan, and the entire pork industry, will benefit from the evaluation of the data and results of this pilot,” says Mark Fergusson, Sask Pork General Manager. “The project will include testing local area network (LoRa) technology, which is a specific opportunity for Saskatchewan due to differences in the telecommunications network in the province. It will provide participating producers with information at their fingertips to easily improve biosecurity.”
“Prairie Swine Centre is pleased to participate in this project. This is an opportunity for us to test and evaluate new technologies that will help protect the swine sector in our province, and identify ways we can strengthen the biosecurity of our own facility,” says Murray Pettitt, CEO of Prairie Swine Centre.
Hannam says the farms were strategically selected for the pilot because of the frequency of vehicle movement. “We’re pleased to collaborate with Sask Pork on this project and the response from producers willing to participate has been very positive. It’s great to see this because, after all, everyone shares a responsibility to protect our industry and biosecurity is our best defence.”
If you are interested in participating or learning more, please contact info@farmhealthguardian.com. To learn more about Farm Health Guardian, visit farmhealthguardian.com.
