Good afternoon. My name is Quintin Pearce. I am the general manager of P. Quintaine & Son Ltd. We are livestock order buyers that procure sows and boars from western Canada.
We are a Canadian family-owned business that has been operating since 1968. We have a buying station in Red Deer, Alberta, and two buying stations in Manitoba. We have grown our business from a small, single-person operation to the largest Canadian buyer of cull sows and boars in Canada.
From our assembly yards to truck fleet, safe, humane handling and transportation is at the highest level of importance. Biosecurity and biocontainment have become a very important part of our business. Gone are the days when sows and boars were raised in outdoor pens. The swine industry has consolidated and become a concentrated and efficient industry. As with any living thing, large concentrations of animals will result in easier transmission of disease. This is managed by good veterinary staff, and engaged and educated barn staff, with proven processes. This results in a production system that provides high-quality pork to Canada and the world at a reasonable cost.
We are very concerned about the recent outbreaks of the PEDv virus. PEDv is of great concern and has the potential to affect domestic and export sales. It is a huge impact on the infected farms and businesses that we work with. We have and will continue to work with all levels of government to lessen the viral load that is currently in the infected areas, and we will do what is required to keep the virus out of western Canada.
As we export our purchased sows and boars to the United States, we have opted to continue to wash and disinfect, in approved washing facilities, at our own cost, all equipment returning to Canada. We are audited routinely by federal, provincial, and third-party U.S. packer-approved auditors. We have worked with all levels of government and have received funding from Growing Forward to enhance our biosecurity and biocontainment levels.
I am asking the audience gathered here to work together, as I am working with all levels of government, veterinarian, and regulatory bodies. We can and should learn from those who have been previously infected. Collaboration is key, and time is of the essence.