Quebec-based meat packer Olymel’s bid to stem losses in its fresh pork business now includes closing down one of its five Canadian hog slaughter plants. Olymel, the protein arm of Sollio Co-operative, announced Friday it will wind down operations at its hog slaughter, cutting and deboning plant at Vallee-Jonction, Que. and permanently close the facility […] Read more
Olymel to shut one Quebec hog slaughter plant
New provincial hog supply agreement in works as Vallee-Jonction facility set to close
New year sees lower hog prices
Reading Time: < 1 minute Hog prices have dipped this year, says provincial livestock analyst Ann Boyda. As of March 10, hog prices had averaged $1.81 per kilogram, down about six per cent from the same period a year earlier, Boyda said in an Agri-News article. However, prices in 2022 (which averaged $2.27 a kilogram for the year) were nearly […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hog futures recover after ‘complete downhill slide’
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures ended higher on Friday as the market recovered after sliding to life-of-contract lows this week. The market was due for a bounce as losses were overdone, brokers said. “We’ve been on just about a complete downhill slide,” said Karl Setzer, brokerage research lead at Mid-Co […] Read more
Piglet ‘weaning ramp’ earns Aherne Prize
Temple Grandin praises innovative ramp that saves the backs of workers and is gentler on piglets
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Two employees of HyLife sow farms in La Broquerie, Man., have won the F. X. Aherne Prize for Innovative Pork Production at the 2023 Banff Pork Seminar. In most sow farms, the weaning process typically involves picking up piglets, vaccinating them and separating them by sex. But repeatedly collecting and picking up […] Read more
Olymel to shut two pork processing plants
Triomphe ham, deli meat plants to close in late April
Meat packer Olymel is set to close a chapter in its acquisition history when it shuts down two Montreal-area pork further-processing plants it bought five years ago. Olymel, a division of ag co-operative Sollio, announced Wednesday it will close the former Aliments Triomphe plant at Blainville and its sister plant about 18 km southeast at […] Read more
China’s 2022 pork output highest in eight years
Average hog weights remain relatively high
Reuters — China’s pork output increased 4.6 per cent in 2022 from 2021 to reach its highest level since 2014, official data showed on Tuesday, confounding some expectations for a smaller rise. Pork output in the world’s top producer of the meat reached 55.41 million tonnes, the highest since 56.71 million tonnes recorded eight years […] Read more
Canadian Pork Council names new top brass
Rene Roy elected as council's new chair
A few weeks after hiring a new executive director, members of the Canadian Pork Council have also chosen their new board chair and first vice-chair. The council on Tuesday announced it had elected Rene Roy, a hog producer from St-Jules in Quebec’s Beauce region, as its new board chair, and Scott Peters, a producer from […] Read more
Pork seminar back in Banff, and in person
Reading Time: < 1 minute The next edition of the Banff Pork Seminar will be an in-person event. However, presentations will be recorded so attendees of the Jan. 10-12 conference can view them online afterward. “This is one way delegates can be sure they get every bit of information from these industry leading presenters,” said Ashley Steeple, coordinator of the […] Read more
Olymel to exit lard business, shut plant
Packer's St. Hyacinthe facility to permanently close
Pork and poultry packer Olymel is set to close the further processing plant it operates in its home town in Quebec as it exits the lard production business. The company, an arm of ag co-operative Sollio, announced Thursday it will close its St. Jacques Street plant at St. Hyacinthe, Que. effective Feb. 10, affecting 107 […] Read more
Cybersecurity ‘incident’ hits Maple Leaf systems
Grocery firm Empire also dealing with IT grief
Some information technology (IT) systems at Canadian pork and poultry packer Maple Leaf Foods have been downed in what the company described Monday as a “cybersecurity incident.” The company said in a release Monday that it “took immediate action and engaged cybersecurity and recovery experts” when it learned of the problem, and its in-house and […] Read more
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