Improved animal health and increased production were two of the highlights for Manitoba Pork looking back on 2018.

Chair George Matheson gave use an update on the PED Virus situation.

"By year-end we'll have had 15 cases and most are either presumed negative now or in transition, so we're making good headway there and also since the regulations changed in Manitoba to allow producers to be able to build hog barns we developed the Swine Infrastructure Development Corporation and that's assisted producers in the permitting process as well as the conditional use hearings."

Matheson says African swine fever will play a big role in prices heading into 2019. He notes most producers only saw a small profit or broke even in 2018, although prices have rebounded from the lows seen in September.