About Us

Swine Health Ontario (SHO) is an industry-wide leadership team collaborating to improve and better coordinate the industry’s ability to prevent, prepare for and respond to serious swine health threats in Ontario.

SHO In November 2015, Ontario Pork and the Ontario Pork Industry Council (OPIC) decided Ontario needed to form a committee to coordinate and align swine health management efforts into a long-term, proactive response strategy. Swine Health Ontario (SHO) and it's Leadership Team were subsequently launched as an industry-wide steering committee to improve and better coordinate the industry’s ability to prevent, prepare for and respond to serious swine health threats in Ontario. With an emphasis on Ontario priorities first, SHO’s activities are visible and industry-led, with a producer focus and a continuous improvement philosophy.

The committee is comprised of 8 voting positions (2 Ontario Pork representatives, 2 OPIC representatives and up to 4 industry representatives), supported by ex-officio representatives from OMAFRA, Ontario Pork and OPIC, as well as the SHO Manager and OPIC Managing Director. SHO also engages a wider body of industry experts via the Science and Technology Committee.

The SHO Strategic Plan is available here.

Vision

Swine health excellence enables the Ontario industry to maintain a global competitive advantage.

Mission

Continuous improvement in swine health management for Ontario producers through proactive, practical, and responsive plans that collaboratively engage the entire swine industry.

Core Values

Coordination – effective co-ordination of activities and groups within the industry
Collaboration – promote collaboration among groups and organizations to achieve the overall vision and mission
Sustainability – promotion of long term, sustainable solutions
Simplicity and Practicality – systems and solutions need to be simple and practical
Efficiency and Cost-effectiveness – systems and solutions need to be efficient and cost-effective
Continuous Improvement – strive to continually improve, Including a formal annual review of this plan to benchmark progress and identify gaps
Engagement through Education - build and communicate knowledge to facilitate engagement and effect positive change

Swine Health Ontario Leadership Team

Jay Squire

Industry Representative, Chair

Jay Squire

Industry Representative, Chair

Jay grew up on his family’s farm near Centralia. He graduated from the University of Guelph with a Masters in Animal Nutrition in 2004, and has worked as a nutritionist with Ontario’s swine farmers for Great Lakes Nutrition and Wallenstein Feed & Supply Ltd. ever since. He is the Swine Division Manager at Wallenstein Feed & Supply Ltd. He lives with his wife and four children on their beef and cash crop farm near Lucan, and has volunteered many hours with the Ontario Pork Industry Council – an organization focused on bettering the viability and sustainability of Ontario’s pork industry.

Cam Farrell

Ontario Pork Representative, Vice-Chair

Cam Farrell

Ontario Pork Representative, Vice-Chair

Cam grew up on a mixed hog and beef farm in eastern Ontario. After graduating from the University of Guelph in 1995 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Ag Business, he started working in the hog division of Cold Springs Farm. In 2006, Cold Springs was purchased by Maple Leaf Foods and he became the Production Manager for the Maple Leaf hog division, Elite Swine Ontario. In 2008, Paragon Farms was formed to purchase the Ontario hog assets from Maple Leaf, and Cam has been the Director of Production for Paragon Farms since inception. He has been involved in both the Ontario Swine Health Advisory Board/Swine Health Ontario and the Science and Technology Committee for a number of years.

Dr. Clint Lichty

DVM, Industry Representative

Dr. Clint Lichty

DVM, Industry Representative

Clint grew up taking care of pigs and beef cattle on his family’s Wellington County farm. Before vet school, Clint spent 3 years in the BSc. Agr. program at the University of Guelph. He graduated from OVC in 2016, started as an associate vet with South West Ontario Veterinary Services and then became a partner in 2018. Clint, his wife Emily, their two little girls, live in the little hamlet of Hesson. Clint is involved in his church and enjoys a wide range of sports and hobbies.

Dr. Catherine Templeton

DVM, Industry Representative

Dr. Catherine Templeton

DVM, Industry Representative

Dr. Catherine Templeton earned a B. Sc. (Agr.) and a D.V.M. at the University of Guelph. Cathy went on to complete her MBA at Guelph in 2009. Cathy has extensive experience in both pork production management and swine health management. She established Maitland Swine Services in Listowel, Ontario and in 2010 Maitland Swine Services amalgamated with South West Ontario Veterinary Services. Cathy has served as President of the Ontario Association of Swine Veterinarians (OASV), a Director for the Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians (CASV) and as a CASV representative on the Research Committee of the Canadian Swine Health Board. She also is a member of the Ontario Swine Health Advisory Board.

Jessica Bickle

Industry Representative

Jessica Bickle

Industry Representative

Jessica was raised on a cash crop operation in Oxford county. Prior to graduating from the University of Guelph with a degree in Agriculture and Environmental Management, she worked as a research assistant for Pioneer Hi-Bred. Post-graduation, Jessica worked as an independent crop advisor, before farming full time with her husband, Scott Nyenhuis. Together Scott and Jessica, and their three children, operate an organic farrow to finish operation in Grey county.

Chris Cossitt

Ontario Pork Representative

Chris Cossitt

Ontario Pork Representative

Chris was raised on a family pork farm outside of Brussels, Ontario, and is the third generation pork farmer in his family. While working towards owning his own farm, he has had a thirty one year career in law enforcement, including eight years with the Emergency Response Team directly dealing with activists. In the last 5 years, he has developed the Local School Resource Officer position in the local high schools, working with young people, supporting them with issues including drug and alcohol problems and mental health issues. After my policing career, he has been active in Grey Bruce Pork Producers Association and has been a member of the board of directors with Ontario Pork for the past five years. With Ontario Pork, he is involved with the Research Committee, is the chair of Program development, Ontario Pork/OFA representative, and Swine Health Ontario leaderhip team member representing Ontario Pork. He is also the President of Grey Bruce County OFA and has been active with OFA for the past eight years. His farm currently raises replacement gilts and cash crops the land.

Dr. Cesar Caballero

DVM, DVSc, OPIC Representative

Dr. Cesar Caballero

DVM, DVSc, OPIC Representative

Dr. Cesar Caballero earned a D.V.M. at the University of Tolima in Colombia. Cesar Completed his Doctorate in Veterinary Science (DVSc) in Swine Health Management at the University of Guelph in 2009 and his Executive Veterinary Program (EVP) in Swine Health Management at the University of Illinois in 2016. Cesar is working with Hypor, a Hendrix Genetics Company, as a Key Account Manager for Eastern Canada and Technical Services Manager - High Health and Biosecurity for Americas. With an extensive experience over the last 20 years in the Canadian swine industry, Cesar is also a Director for the Ontario Association of Swine Veterinarians (OASV), active member of the Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians (CASV) and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV).

Jeff MacDougald

OPIC Representative, OPIC Chair

Jeff MacDougald

OPIC Representative, OPIC Chair

Jeff was raised in the Perth County pork sector on a farrow to finish farm that evolved and grew into 1250 sow Farrow to SEW through the late 90’s and early 2000’s. He graduated from the University of Guelph in 2004 and started working for Shur-Gain in early 2005. He worked 15 years at Shur-Gain/Trouw Nutrition in swine nutrition sales and business management. In 2020, he ventured into different area of the Ontario livestock business starting with MAXIMUS systems, providing and supporting MAXIMUS for managing swine barns, electronic sow feeding and herd management software. For the last 12 years, he has lived outside Zurich with his wife Chrissy and their three daughters aged 10,9,7 – who keep them pretty busy!

Dr. Tim Pasma

DVM, OMAFRA Ex-Officio Representative

Dr. Tim Pasma

DVM, OMAFRA Ex-Officio Representative

Tim is Lead Veterinarian – Epidemiology with the Animal Health and Welfare Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. He has B.Sc. (Agr), DVM and MBA degrees from the University of Guelph and an M.Sc. studying swine influenza from the University of Manitoba. He grew up on a dairy farm near Tillsonburg and worked with hogs growing up and in his early career. He was a swine veterinarian with Sheridan Heuser Provis Swine Health Services in Steinbach, Manitoba, and was a disease control veterinarian with the Manitoba government prior to returning to Ontario. Tim is filling in on the Leadership Team for Dr. Christa Arsenault while she is on leave as the African Swine Fever Coordinator with the National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Council.

Frank Wood

Ontario Pork Ex-Officio Representative

Frank Wood

Ontario Pork Ex-Officio Representative

Frank and his team work together as a liaison between producers and Ontario Pork by establishing effective, cooperative business relationships with producers and their associations. The team is responsible for implementing national programs, assisting producers in adopting new technologies; and communicating current industry challenges to producers, associations and industry partners.

Jessica Fox

MSc, Swine Health Ontario Manager

Jessica Fox

MSc, Swine Health Ontario Manager

Jessica Fox attended the University of Guelph, receiving her BSc in Animal Biology (2007) and MSc in Animal Behaviour and Welfare (2013) related to hot weather transport of hogs. She is a PAACO certified auditor for both red meat and poultry operations. Her career experiences have included slaughter operations, producer services, hog logistics, animal welfare and meat quality.

Tanya Terpstra

OPIC Managing Director

Tanya Terpstra

OPIC Managing Director

Tanya Terpstra is a primary pork producer, running a farrow to finish operation with her husband Darryl and 7 children, ages 9-22 years, for over 24 years near Atwood, ON. They have a passion for our pork industry and their family, and Tanya enjoys serving the pork industry and the community. She is the Managing Director of the Ontario Pork Industry Council (OPIC), that supports pork industry initiatives around issues such as human resources, health and safety and other issues affecting the industry.

About Us

Vision

Mission

Core Values

Swine Health Ontario Leadership Team

Jay Squire

Jay Squire

Cam Farrell

Cam Farrell

Dr. Clint Lichty

Dr. Clint Lichty

Dr. Catherine Templeton

Dr. Catherine Templeton

Jessica Bickle

Jessica Bickle

Chris Cossitt

Chris Cossitt

Dr. Cesar Caballero

Dr. Cesar Caballero

Jeff MacDougald

Jeff MacDougald

Dr. Tim Pasma

Dr. Tim Pasma

Frank Wood

Frank Wood

Jessica Fox

Jessica Fox

Tanya Terpstra

Tanya Terpstra

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