Manitoba Pork Council reports fewer needles being used

According to the Manitoba Pork Council, roughly one quarter of the province's pork producers have stopped using needles and syringes and switched to needle-free administration of medications and vaccines.

Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives introduced a program that gave pork producers enrolled in the Canadian Quality Assurance (CQA) Program rebates of up to $2,000 for the purchase of a needle-free injector. Of the 620 farms in the CQA Program, 150 have purchased or are in the process of purchasing a gun.

"By not having a needle penetrate the skin of an animal, you do bring at least three big areas of improvement," said Miles Beaudin of the Manitoba Pork Council. "Needle-less injectors don't have needles, so there's no needle to break in the animal. Another big advantage of using needle-less technology is that there is a significant reduction of disease transmission between injections. The third area where there's a major improvement is there's a better uptake in medication from the animal, so the animal itself can respond better to the medication, equal to or better than using a needle and syringe."

According to Beaudin, money should be available under the program for the next two years.