Sask Swine Welfare Research Group

We were featured on the Popular Pig Podcast: Dr. Yolande Seddon explores Canada's animal welfare science infrastructure, its vital ties to the pig industry, and how understanding pig behaviour drives better welfare in practice. Give it a listen!
https://popularpig.com/2025/09/11/rethinking-animal-welfare-for-stronger-pigs-and-farms-dr-yolande-seddon/

How does farrowing pen design shape pig welfare & performance? Dr. Yolande Seddon will share key insights applicable to both crate & free-farrowing systems at the 2025 Gestal Swine Summit in Lévis, Québec this fall 🐷
Jyga Technologies - Gestal

Check out Manitoba Pork's Chop Talk podcast where Dr. Seddon discusses the Nserc Canada Industrial Research Chair Program in Swine Welfare, along with future research we are currently developing! Listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/26lAJCnDPg8A2dC8wzFIfi

A major collaborative effort reveals hair cortisol as a genetic indicator of stress coping style in pigs! This showcases how multidisciplinary research can advance animal welfare. Check out our newly published paper for details: https://academic.oup.com/genetics/advance-article/doi/10.1093/genetics/iyaf092/8131575

University of Saskatchewan
University of Alberta
Iowa State University

Genome Canada



U.S. Department of Agriculture

We’re so proud of Karolina Steinerová, who earned her doctoral degree at the University of Saskatchewan Spring 2025 convocation! The swine welfare community has gained an outstanding academic & champion of positive pig welfare. Congratulations to Dr. Yolande Seddon for guiding another student to success! Nserc Canada WCVM Today

We were featured in the National Hog Farmer! Check out the article for a refresher on the pig welfare session from this year’s Banff Pork Seminar which featured talks from Prairie Swine Centre & University of Saskatchewan WCVM scientists, producers & veterinarians. WCVM Today

Read here: https://informamarkets.turtl.co/story/national-hog-farmer-mayjune-2025/page/8

Back from the 2025 North American International Society for Applied Ethology Regional Meeting held at the University of Guelph – Insightful talks, inspiring science, and a fantastic chance to reconnect with the community of fellow . Always a pleasure to catch up with this crowd! WCVM Today Prairie Swine Centre University of Saskatchewan

From piglet play to enrichment in growers: learn how early-life, personality, and enrichment shape pig behaviour & welfare. Catch-up with Martyna , Abby & Jen-Yun Prairie Swine Centre at the 2025 North American International Society for Applied Ethology Regional meeting University of Guelph

See the program: https://ccsaw.uoguelph.ca/upcoming-events/2025-isae-north-american-regional-meeting/

In 2018, Canada’s swine industry & Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada invested $2M to create the Chair in Swine Welfare to increase research capacity. After five years, there is much to be proud of! Stay tuned as we work to support the industry to apply these findings into practice.
https://wcvmtoday.usask.ca/articles/2025/01/canadas-pork-industry-renews-financial-investment-in-usask-swine-welfare-chair.php

We are very proud of our own, Karolína Steinerová, who successfully defended her PhD research, and showed that play can be stimulated and sustained in grow-finish pigs, contributing to positive emotions, reduced fear, & resilience to PRRSV!🎉🎓🐷
Nserc Canada University of Saskatchewan

Play increases pig heart rate variability, reflecting positive emotions that persist even after play ends. Karolina’s study highlights play as a method to promote joyful experiences in pigs’ lives and to improve welfare in conventional farming. Read it here: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1518153/full

Rearing grow-finish pigs in environments where play expression is supported facilitates improved learning and trainability, which can translate to improved welfare through better adaptability and reduced fearfulness to novel stimuli. University of Saskatchewan WCVM Today Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Read it here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159124003502