A light, aluminum device is inserted into the stall behind the pig and is used to push it forward to where it needs to be
A herd veterinarian and her team at Maple Leaf Agri-Farms in Landmark, Man., have received the F.X. Aherne Prize for Innovative Pork Production.
Jewel White, farm maintenance technician Jim Kehler, and veterinary assistant Ronald Nayre were honoured for their work on a device to improve both animal and worker safety in hog barns during blood sampling.
The award was presented at the recent Banff Pork Seminar in Alberta by awards committee chair Ben Willing. The path that led to the Maple Leaf Agri-Farms Backspacer Device “is typical of our winners for the Aherne Prize,” he said in a statement.
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“Someone has an idea, often teammates get involved, and the product ends up finding use across that operation and others in the industry. Those grassroots efforts typically draw widespread interest because they make a real difference in daily production work.”
As the senior manager of animal health and welfare for the sow herds at Maple Leaf Agri-Farms, White was familiar with the risks involved in collecting blood samples.
“The most common method is for a barn worker to use a snout snare to restrain the gilt or sow in a temporary stall for the procedure and pull the pig forward while the team member leans into the stall,” she said in a statement.
“Pulling the pig forward with a snare stresses both the pig and the team member. And if the snare comes loose, the pig can suddenly impact the team member and cause injury.”
After analyzing the problem, she “realized that if we could move the pig … forward to the end of the stall during the process so it couldn’t back up, the team member could have better access to draw blood. This would create less stress for the pig and greater people safety.”
Any solution also needed to be comfortable for the pig, portable, and easy to wash and disinfect, she added. White worked with Kehler and Nayre to develop the device, which is now in use across Maple Leaf Agri-Farm’s production barns.
“We conceptualized a smooth spacer that could be inserted behind a pig, almost like moving a car seat forward so the driver is well positioned and secure. We created a light, aluminum device that could be inserted into the stall during the process and moved to the next stall when the process is complete.”
