Hog sector faces crisis

The Canadian hog industry is facing virtual extinction. For three years, hog producers in this country have faced steady losses. Many analysts predicted 2009 would be the turnaround year and it was starting to look promising until the H1N1 virus, inappropriately labelled the swine flu, squashed the emerging price rally. Canadian producers have been facing steeper, more prolonged losses than their American counterparts, so North American hog numbers still haven’t dropped enough to produce a significant price improvement. After years of losses, support from the normal farm income stabilization programming runs thin. There are some moderate-sized producers who have genuinely been assisted by the income stabilizations schemes. There are also a few producers who locked in favourable prices earlier this year when they were briefly available. In general though, most hog operations are reaching the end of their financial rope. The federal government has rejected any direct aid saying it would lead to countervail action by the Americans and make the economic situation even worse. However, unless governments do something more, most of the players are going to be lost. I’m Kevin Hursh.

www.hursh.ca

Kevin Hursh, PAg, CAC

In this time of Crisis DynAgra supports the pork industry. For more information on DynAgra visit www.dynagra.com