2, 502 – 45th Street West, Saskatoon, SK S7L 6H2
Tel: 306-244-7752
Email: info@saskpork.com
About
There are more than 7,000 pig farms across Canada that raise more than 25.5 million animals a year. About 31,000 people work in the pork industry, from farmers to processors to inspectors. In Saskatchewan, over 2.2 million pigs were produced on 147 hog farms last year. The pork industry is the third largest agricultural sector in our province.
SaskPork represents pig farmers and carries out activities in the areas of producer education and support, communications and public outreach, industry growth and sustainability.
Did you know?
- Pigs in Canada live in barns, not outside in the mud. Especially in a place like Canada that has such cold winters, barns are designed to provide pigs with the ideal environment. As well as protecting against extreme hot and cold weather, barns also keep out predators and disease.
- A male pig that sires piglets is called a boar. Until they have their first litter, young female pigs are called gilts. Once they give birth, pigs are called sows. The process of birthing a litter of pigs is called farrowing.
- Depending on their age, sows will usually deliver 8 to 16 piglets each. A sow will have 2 to 2.5 litters within a year’s time.
- A pig’s sense of smell is 2000 times more sensitive than humans. Pigs have over a thousand olfactory receptor genes compared to an average of about 800 in dogs.
- Pork is the leading food source of thiamin. Thiamin helps convert food into energy, regulate appetite and maintain the normal function of the nervous system, heart and muscles.
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