Andrea Elias is the kind of person the hog industry is trying to produce and desperately needs.
The 23-year-old woman from Winkler, Man., has just finished Assiniboine Community College’s pork production technician apprenticeship program and the pork production manager certificate program. She thinks these programs will help her get to her goal.
“I’d like to be a (hog barn) manager one day,” said Elias, who works at a multiplier barn near Winkler in the heart of Manitoba’s hog belt.
Elias and more than a dozen other graduates of the program were feted during the Manitoba Pork Council’s annual meeting in Winnipeg.
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“These graduates represent the future of the hog industry in Manitoba,” said pork council chair Marcel Hacault.
The programs allow students to work on hog farms and study part time. They must complete 1,800 hours of work-based training per year for two years in all aspects of hog production.
Hacault said the program’s purpose is to produce the kind of highly skilled workers that the increasingly industrialized and complex industry needs.
Elias said the hog industry was her first choice when looking for a career.
“I love pigs,” said Elias, who worked during the summer for a Manitoba hog farm while studying at Lakeland College in Vermilion, Alta.
“I ended up liking it so much that after I was done my schooling I went back and I’ve been there ever since.”
Her training helps her in the new 700 head multiplier unit.
“I’m using what I learned to help us put it together and get everything running smoothly.”
She said allowing students to work while studying part time will allow the program to attract more young people.
