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THE BRANDON SUN • WINTER FAIR • 2026
2026 • WINTER FAIR • THE BRANDON SUN
Quality pork for a quality competition By Wendy King
The quality of Manitoba pork is exemplary. Buhr says that over the years the differences in scoring amongst competitors has been minute. Today’s criteria largely reflects the standard grading system used at the main slaughter facilities in the province. Jason Care from Manitoba Hog Grading is the man with the clipboard, having judged the event many times. He also verifies the judging criteria that every exhibitor receives. Buhr says there are generally 12 to 24 entrants. All hogs are dropped off at East 40 Packers on Monday morning. They provide the marshalling area and prepare the carcasses for grading. Their contributions are con- sidered instrumental to the success of the event. Judging completes Tuesday and results are revealed at the Pork Quality Luncheon held at the Provincial Ex Dome Building. The top five entrants will get the nod from the judge and the Grand Champion and Reserve Champion carcasses are then sent to hang in a cooler in the Ag Education area for viewing. Assiniboine College receives both carcasses for their culinary program so students can learn how to cut and cook with the best possible examples of Manitoba pork. “East 40 Packers also cuts and wraps the meat, at cost, and they drop it off at Westman community food banks like Samaritan House, and Helping Hands. East 40 Pack- ers facilitate a lot of our re-giving,” Buhr says.
As the judging is done out of sight, the public event is The Pork Quality Luncheon which is open to all visitors to the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. Guest speakers may include the Manitoba Premier or Members of the Legis- lative Assembly. And just like the old days, the winners still get brag- ging rights. They also get to choose a charity with which to split the winnings. While the competition is a fine showcase for pork production in Manitoba, it’s the charitable aspect that Buhr says is the highlight. “In addition to the entry fee, the entrants are submit- ting a fully market weight hog, a valuable upfront dona- tion. Carcasses that don’t win are donated to food banks,” Buhr says. Agricultural science has progressed and marketable traits have been refined over the last century or so.
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f you climbed into your “wayback machine” and visited the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair - long before it was “Royal” - lots of things would be the same as they are now. And lots of things would be different. Take the live hog competition, for example. “Probably dating back longer than you or I were alive by a long shot, there was always a hog competition,” says Wayne Buhr, emcee for this year’s Pork Quality Lun- cheon. “And I believe that at one point it was just the live hog competition — literally judging the live animals.” Back in the earlier part of the last century, hog farmers would bring their best stock to agricultural fairs every- where to have them assessed. Prize money and brag- ging rights were a great thing for a farmer to have. But judging the animals was serious business. In those days, butchers would look at a live hog and know how much usable meat could come from the animal. Animals were also assessed for how well they would pass on market- able traits to their offspring. Agricultural science has progressed and marketable traits have been refined over the last century or so. Ear- lier, hogs would have been heavier and fatter, especially those used for producing lard. Decades passed and large scale packers entered the picture. New specifics were sought in areas such as colour, weight, fat and loin depth, marbling, and texture. “Criteria evolves because the grading standards do change at the plants every so often,” Buhr says. The involvement of genetics companies like Genesus Genetics and Topigs Norsvin Canada have also changed the industry as they adapt breeding to get the standards the industry wants. Buhr also points out that management practices have radically changed since the inception of the live hog competition. Once, farms might have 50 or 100 hogs. Today large scale operations are highly specialized. “High status is placed on health to minimize potential contamination from outside sources and ensure no dis- eases could be transferred to the animals within the barn, and control any disease issues within a barn including the feeding and ventilation systems. This ensures that the care of the animals is ‘Cadillac standard,’” he says. “So those changes mean it doesn’t work to bring my prized hog to the fair because with biosecurity, I can’t take it back. So it’s now evolved to a carcass competition.”
The Pork Quality Luncheon is a longstanding part of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. Hugo Girouard photo
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