Pork carcasses require trimming when defects are present. Federal and provincial regulations require trimming of defects to reduce food safety hazards and improve product quality. The most frequent causes of trims in Alberta are arthritis, chest adhesions and abscesses. Other less common causes include injuries, belly ruptures, and erysipelas. The producer can reduce certain trim rates because they are the result of disease or management problems on the farm. Similar trims may have more than one cause; therefore determining the cause in each barn is essential to designing a solution for that barn. It is important to monitor trim rates routinely and set action limits, invest in a veterinary diagnosis and diagnostic testing to find the cause of trims, ask the processor or herd veterinarian to examine and photograph affected hogs at slaughter to aid in diagnosis, design a prevention program with a swine veterinarian, and prevent septicaemia and pneumonia rather than treat it.