Farmscape for May 19, 2011   (Episode 3582)

A new incentive program is being offered to Saskatchewan's pork producers to encourage the adoption of needle-free injection technology.

Needle-free injectors use a high speed blast of gas to propel veterinary compounds through the skin, replacing the need for needles.

To encourage adoption of the technology a new incentive program is being made available to pork producers in Saskatchewan.

Harvey Wagner, the producer services manager with the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board, says application forms will be mailed to all Canadian Quality Assurance program registered farms in the province within the next week.

Clip-Harvey Wagner-Saskatchewan Pork Development Board:
The needle-free injection program is funded through the On-Farm Equipment Purchase Program of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture On-Farm Food Safety Program.

The On-Farm Food Safety Program is funded by Growing Forward, it's a federal provincial initiative.

What this program will do is it'll cover 50 percent of the cost of purchasing the needle-free injection units up to a maximum of 750 dollars.

All CQA registered farms are eligible to purchase a unit so every farm that has a CQA registration can purchase a unit.

If a farm has more than one barn with a CQA registration they will be able to purchase one unit per CQA farm.

The application will be made to Sask Pork.

Sask Pork is administering the On-Farm Food Safety Program.

Farms will then make an application to Sask Pork, provide proof of purchase of one of the two types of units that are approved under this program and then Sask Pork will issue the payment to the farm.

Wagner notes the program will be retroactive so any unit purchased between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2012 will be eligible for rebates.

He acknowledges funding is limited so applications will be approved on a first come first served basis.

For more information producers can contact the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board at 306 244-7752.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council