Reading Time: 4 minutes A leader in Alberta’s pork industry is concerned about the precedent California’s Proposition 12 may set in agricultural trade between Canada and the U.S. Prop 12, which became law Jan. 1, stipulates that sows supplying the state’s consumers must be grouped in housing that provides a minimum of 24 square feet per sow. For Darcy […] Read more
California law worries provincial pork industry
Locals will have to follow Prop 12, weakening CUSMA agreement, says industry leader
Fallout from Russian invasion could last all year
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Pork is warning its producers that feed costs could stay high throughout the year because the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has not only halted the country’s grain exports but disrupted trade patterns. “China’s need to fill the grain market void left by Ukraine is expected to push prices higher,” the organization said in […] Read more
Hog producer ‘profitability plunges,’ says Alberta Pork
Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s been one blow after another for the province’s hog producers, says Alberta Pork. “The past year has presented quite a few disruptions at every stage of the value chain,” Bijon Brown, the organization’s production economist, said in a release. The sharp rise in feed costs have been the biggest blow, but transportation disruptions, labour […] Read more
Hopes were raised but hog producers facing yet another crisis
The sector is seeing the best prices in five years, but high feed costs are a crippling blow
Reading Time: 4 minutes For many of Alberta’s long-suffering hog producers, a short-lived bout of profitability may actually be the final straw. “What could have been a beautiful year for the pork industry is starting to turn into a crisis,” said Darcy Fitzgerald, executive director of Alberta Pork. “Until we get further into the fall, we won’t really know […] Read more
Brent Moen stays on as Alberta Pork chair
Reading Time: < 1 minute Brent Moen is continuing on as chair of Alberta Pork. Moen and Craig Thompson were re-elected at the organization’s recent AGM along with new directors Ard Bonthuis and Andy Walter. They join four other board members: vice-chair Stan Vanessen, Martin Waldner, Hendrik Fourie and Marcel Rupert. Alberta pork producers have had a tumultuous year with […] Read more
Olymel restarting hog slaughter at Red Deer
Work to resume at pork plant this week
Meat packer Olymel plans to restart slaughter operations Thursday at one of Canada’s largest hog plants following a major outbreak of COVID-19 among employees. Olymel, an arm of Sollio Co-operative, said late Wednesday it had recalled “employees that are needed to ensure that the gradual restarting of operations goes smoothly” at its Red Deer, Alta. […] Read more
Some beleaguered hog farmers want production cuts
In another sign of distress, six growers asked Alberta Pork to lead efforts to cut production
Reading Time: 2 minutes Some hog producers are urging Alberta Pork to lead a charge to cut pig production in the province. The unusual request is the latest instalment in an ongoing effort to staunch the flow of red ink in the province’s hog sector. But leading an effort to cut production in a bid to win higher prices […] Read more
Beleaguered pork producers consider move to single desk
After years of losses, many will abandon the sector if things don’t change, says Alberta Pork
Reading Time: 3 minutes When it was wheat, Alberta led the fight to get rid of single-desk selling. But it’s a very different story when it comes to pork. Two-thirds of Alberta Pork producers voted in favour of investigating a single-desk marketing system similar to Quebec at their virtual annual general meeting held November 23. Thirty per cent voted […] Read more
Alberta Pork urges producers to consider marketing co-op
Banding together would fix a ‘broken’ system and force packers to pay a fair price, says organization
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta Pork is urging hog farmers in the province to band together to force packers to pay a fair price for their animals. And that includes thinking about returning to a single-desk model or forming marketing co-operatives to “shift the balance of power back to producers.” In an analysis of the sector covering the past […] Read more
Species-specific webinars on livestock transport regs
Reading Time: < 1 minute A presentation from this spring’s Livestock Care Conference has led to a new webinar series on transport regulations, to be offered by Alberta Farm Animal Care with technical expertise provided by the CFIA. The conference presentation on humane transport by CFIA meat hygiene inspector Nancy Simmons prompted questions that “highlighted the great demand producers have […] Read more
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