Saskatoon, SK., October 24, 2006: Brian Andries, Acting Farm Manager for PSC Elstow Research Farm Inc., is pleased to announce that for the second year in a row PSC Elstow Research Farm Inc. has won the Maple Leaf Performance Award for the largest average loin. “The award demonstrates the commitment of our staff to deliver a quality product by paying attention to details from the genetics to the final weighing of all animals prior to market.”

Joe Langen, Manager of Procurement at Mitchell’s Gourmet Foods in Saskatoon, “A research farm was not expected to do this well. We are aware that as part of the research program, frequently pigs must be marketed both too light and too heavy compared to the ideal commercial weight. It is our feeling that the combination of the herd management and the diligence of the staff to get the weights as close to optimum as the research program allows has really paid off in producing a consistently large loin”. This award is presented to demonstrate the importance of certain characteristics in the pig leaving the farm that benefit the packer as well as the retailer marketing this pork.

Brian Andries explains how they have been able to produce such consistent results. “Carcass performance is a combination of meeting the genetic potential of the animal with a feeding program that meets requirements at each stage of production and monitoring shipping weights at market closely. In this regard a new method of weighing every second week and making use of our knowledge of the growth rate in the barn we are able to predict accurately the weight gain and therefore the expected weight of the animal two weeks from now”. The result is an animal that meets the current grading grid with consideration of the impact of the economics of feeding versus weight gain in those days leading up to market day. This is accomplished with a practical biweekly weighing technique that minimizes labour while maximizing value to the farm.

Prairie Swine Centre Inc., located near Saskatoon, is a non-profit research corporation affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan, and is recognized globally for its contributions to practical, applied science in pork production in the disciplines of Nutrition, Engineering and Animal Behaviour. PSC Elstow Research Farm Inc. is a 600 sow farrow-to-finish production barn designed to provide commercial scale production facilities for the further development of near-market production research.