Prairie Swine Centre Inc. announced the official opening of its new 600-sow farrow-to-finish research facility near Elstow, Saskatchewan on March 29, 2001. These facilities allow the Centre to expand its research in the areas of nutrition, engineering and applied ethology (behaviour). The construction project, valued at more than $6 million ($CAN), includes a single site 600 sow farrow-to-finish unit, an off-site nursery and grow out unit located 1 mile from the main site, a feed mill with an annual capacity of 7 thousand tonnes and a residence for the Farm Manager and family.

Funded in part by a $3 million grant from the Province of Saskatchewan, the new facility will operate very much like a commercial farm with research imposed on the production system. This will provide Prairie Swine Centre with a very practical, near-market research facility. The new facility will support those studies requiring commercial-like research conditions, such as evaluation of feeding programs, development of improved internal barn environments and evaluation of animal welfare. Collaborations with other research groups, such as the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan will allow for study of external environmental topics related to odour, water and soil.

Although designed and constructed to be very similar to current commercial construction practice, the facility contains some unique research capabilities. For example, one-third of the sow herd will be housed in group pens and fed using electronic sow feeders; the remaining two-thirds of the herd will be housed in conventional stalls. Two grow out rooms allow the collection of manure on a pen-by-pen basis, allowing scientists to study the effect of alternative feeding programs, water supply systems and feed or manure additives on slurry composition. About half of the grow out rooms have fully slatted floors, while the remainder have partial slats. Two grow out rooms will feature chimney roof ventilation, to allow comparison with the more conventional sidewall systems.

PSC Elstow Facility Overview