Photo: Éloïse Talbot-Pouliot, Operations Manager for the Centre de développement du porc du Québec’s research and training maternity unit, and Francis Pouliot, the unit’s Director of Business Development.
By Patrick Dupuis, Coopérateur magazine.
It was with tremendous pride that the CENTRE DE DÉVELOPPEMENT DU PORC DU QUÉBEC (CDPQ) announced on March 8 that its all new research and training maternity barn, the only one of its kind in the country, was fully operational. It’s a farm/educational facility and leading-edge development tool for the Quebec pork industry. Here are some of its standout features.
But first a quick look at the beginnings of the initiative, which had a sombre start. In 2014, a fire destroyed the 120-sow farrowing-finishing school at the Centre de services scolaire de la Côte-du-Sud, located in Saint-Anselme. Fortunately, an insurance settlement made reconstruction of the facility possible.
That was the aim of the Centre de services scolaire, according to agronomist Marquis Roy, former Olymel technical director for pork production and CDPQ board member. But figuring out exactly how to bring the project to fruition turned out to be more complicated than originally thought. For starters, the profitability targets the Centre had long maintained could hardly be reached. That’s what started people questioning if it was a good idea for the Centre to relaunch the farm-school on its own. Still, the Centre wanted to continue in its role in pork production education. And so it turned to the CDPQ.
The Centre de développement du porc du Québec’s interest in and enthusiasm for the reconstruction were immediate. It jumped at the chance to turn the farm into a high-level research facility. In addition, for strategic reasons, particularly regarding biosecurity, the maternity unit would not be built on its previous site in the heart of Saint-Anselme, with its high traffic in trucks taking pigs to slaughter, but at a safe distance from any production site. At the same time, the farm needed to be built on Centre de services scolaire territory, so students could have easy access. A site located to the east, in Armagh, struck a balance between these two imperatives.
RESEARCH AND TEACHING
“Everything turns on research,” says Roy. “The new facility’s mission is to carry out primary and applied research in collaboration with public and private partners both local and from elsewhere.” Through the involvement of the Centre de formation agricole Saint-Anselme, the research maternity unit would also become a great place for students undergoing specialized agricultural training to learn pig production.
Furthermore, CDPQ General Manager Jacques Faucher, underscores how “research carried out there will help reduce the impact of pork production on the environment by optimizing use of resources like energy, water and feed. It will also optimize production costs to help make pork producers more competitive.”
“To reach these objectives, the maternity unit is equipped with leading-edge technology and can collect and analyze large amounts of data,” says Francis Pouliot, the engineer responsible for CDPQ business development and the Sow Research and Training Station.”
A Gestal-brand feeding system individually and precisely feeds the sows in line with their nutritional needs (precision feeding) throughout their lives and through the entire production cycle: quarantine, breeding, gestation and farrowing. It’s all combined with a management system that continuously collects data on feed and water consumption. Specialized equipment, notably by Groupe RCA for electrical and ventilation systems, also enables precise control of the maternity environment to further enhance pig welfare.
Every year, the facility produces some 19,000 piglets of excellent genetic quality and high health status. Healthy piglets lead to improved weight gain, reduced mortality and improved feed conversion. The piglets have a buyer in the Avantis Coopérative, which ensures technical follow-up. The first F1 sows were introduced at the end of December. “Already, fertility levels are excellent and well above expectations,” says Éric Nadeau, agronomist and Avantis Coopérative consultant. The herd was raised in 4-week cohorts, with 130 to 135 litters per cohort.
The project required an investment of close to $7 million and was made possible notably through the financial support of two principal partners: the ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation du Québec ($4.6 million) and the Centre de services scolaire de la Côte-du-Sud ($950,000).
Read the original article in the Coopérateur magazine.
Read news from last March on the opening of the maternity barn.