Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Last Saturday, the Canadian government announced a comprehensive restructuring plan for pork producers, which includes key marketing initiatives, government-backed credit to help viable operations, and a “Hog Farm Transition Program.” The latter will allow producers to tender bids for the amount of funding they need to transition out of the hog industry and cease hog production.

The U.S. pork industry is struggling as well. On Monday, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) asked for help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: “U.S. pork producers are in desperate straits right now, and they need a little help from USDA,” said NPPC President Don Butler. “The request NPPC has made not only will help pork producers and Americans who benefit from government feeding programs, but tens of thousands of mostly rural jobs supported by the U.S. pork industry.”

Governors from nine states made a similar request earlier this month, but at that time, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack answered bluntly, “We don’t have $50 million.”

However, as NPPC points out, Congress could lift a spending cap on the Section 32 program, and use $50 million of the $300 million available, to purchase pork. This program uses customs receipts to buy non-price-supported commodities for school lunch and other food programs.

NPPC also asked for assistance in opening markets that were closed (presumably due to H1N1 concerns), as well as a request for $100 million of the $1 billion appropriated for addressing the H1N1 virus for the swine industry. This would include $70 million for swine disease surveillance; $10 million for diagnostics and H1N1 vaccine development; and $20 million for industry support.

If USDA doesn’t have $50 million, will the Obama administration or Congress be able to come up with even more in the present economic situation? It’s doubtful.

Even if the money became available, will it be enough, or will the U.S. government need to offer an exit strategy like Canada’s?

"We know Canadian hog producers can become profitable again, but we have to face tough realities to make our pork industry lean and competitive," said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

It seems to me the pork industries on both sides of the border are already as “lean and mean” as they can possibly be. Producers have had depressed markets for over a year and have been making drastic adjustments to stay in business. The only things that will help are increased demand, more market access, and, most importantly, fewer sows. What do you think?

Views: 97

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Thanks to all of you who responded to our newsletter introduction last week on government action related to the pork industry crisis.

Producers on both sides of the border feel bail-outs are not the answer - they only prolong the inevitable. In fact, one Ontario producer writes,"The Canadian program does little to nothing for the average hog farmer hoping to stay in business. The loan program involves providing a "credible business plan," showing a potential to repay the loans. Has anyone at the Federal Government looked at the futures? There is no profitability, so only those with equity to draw on will qualify for loans."

All producers who responded agreed that the North American industry is already as lean and competitive as it can be. Months of prices at or below cost of production, in addition to improvements in disease control and production practices, have put the focus on efficiency.

What kind of help do we need? Several suggestions were offered. One producer believes the government purchase of pork products would be more effective (and assist in the objective of reducing the sow herd) if the money was used specifically for food products manufactured from cull sows. As with any program, however, the devil is in the details.

The need for all segments of the industry to work together to find solutions was also a common theme. Now is not the time to sit back and let someone else do the work with government - let your elected officials know how critical the situation is. If we don't tell, them, no one else will, and contacts do make a difference.

Overwhelmingly, the need for a "level playing field” for exports was emphasized. An Iowa producer writes, "The world is busy trying to duplicate our efforts, but in the meantime they use every device at their disposal to manipulate the purchase of our products. Until the playing field is leveled, these challenges will continue. I only hope they don't progress to a point in which domestic production is disabled to some degree and we become significantly dependent on imported food products of any kind. This development would be akin to our dependence on foreign energy. And dependence as such, in any degree, would be disastrous."

The bottom line is that we must still reduce the sow herd. As one producer emphasizes, "It does no good to sit back and bemoan the economic crisis we are in. Sow owners need to look inside their own operations and make the cuts that are necessary. Most operations of any size can easily cut 5 to 10 percent. If that were to be done, we would see a quick turn around in prices."

Thank you again for writing - we will follow up on the situation in coming weeks, and if you have more comments, please send them my way.

JoAnn Alumbaugh
Farms.com
Director of Communications
E-mail: joann.alumbaugh@farms.com

For all of your daily swine information needs, visit http://www.swine.farms.com

Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Pulse & Soybean Crop Update

Soybeans range from R3 (beginning pod) to R4 (full pod). Soybean plant height and biomass have increased dramatically over the last two weeks as the plants continued flowering and pod development. Varying degrees of stem, leaf, flower and pod deformations have been noted and have been attributed to a variety of causes including: Rapid Growth Syndrome – Shows up as bubbling and crinkling and curling of new leaves since the leaf interior is growing quicker than the leaf veins and edges can keep up with. See Figure 1 below. Suspected Herbicide Drift – Concerns regarding suspected Group 4 drift in particular have been reported this year. Caution should be taken with such diagnosis based on visual assessments only as rapid growth syndrome can produce some comparable symptoms. See Figures 2 and 3 below. Suspected Environmentally Induced Male Plant Sterility – Symptoms with this disorder can be very odd and hard to verify. Extreme fluctuations in temperature which includes very hot conditi

Drought Support for Manitoba Livestock Producers

Federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture have reached agreement on the five-year Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership policy framework. Governments will continue to deliver a complete and effective suite of business risk management (BRM) programs.  Business Risk Management (BRM) programs are in place to help farmers in managing risks from income declines resulting from drought, flooding, low prices, and increased input costs. The programs work together by providing protection for different types of losses, as well as cash flow options. AgriInvest helps cover small margin declines.  AgriInvest Publications and Forms AgriStability assists in cases of large margin declines caused by circumstances such as low prices and rising input costs.  AgriStability Publications and Forms Agristability Benefit Calculator AgriInsurance offers protection for production losses related to specific crops or commodities caused by natural hazards. Pasture Days Insuranc

Smoky conditions and hot weather impacting Manitoba's agricultural producers

In a growing season that's already experienced more than 30 days of air quality warnings, Manitoba's farmers are adjusting to keep themselves and their animals safe amid smoky conditions from wildfires burning across the province. In Pipestone, Man., the orange haze can get so thick it's hard to see more than half a mile, says cattle producer Melissa Atchison. That means during the tail end of calving season, they're taking extra precautions to keep themselves and their animals healthy. "It's not as if you are going to have pre-smoked meat," Atchison said. "It doesn't affect meat quality.… It's more about managing their health and their lungs and their respiratory system." Jonas Watson, a veterinarian at Winnipeg's Grant Park Animal Hospital, said the adverse health effects caused by poor air quality can also hurt producers' bottom line. The summer's intense heat can impact an outdoor animal's breathing at the best of times — but add in irritants like smoke and their health can be

Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station educates local producers

The Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station showcased 44 experiments and other projects it's doing this year to local producers at its annual summer tour day. Most notably, the station is adding 31 new varieties of all its crops to avoid stagnancy to sustain and improve crop yields, testing the greenhouse gas emissions of different enhanced-efficiency fertilizers and assessing whether these fertilizers could improve the efficiency of fertilizer use. “Even before I start seeding the experiments, I share what sort of experiments I’m going to do with farmers and ask them if there’s anything else they would like us to do,” said Tarlok Singh Sahota, the station’s director, who personally meets with farmers in their fields and barns for these discussions. “So, this is a very shared program with the farmers and (the) farm will be closely linked with the farmers. I think this is probably the only substation in our country, not only in the province, that works so closely with the f

FedNor announces funds for agriculture, video series

The Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance (NOFIA) is getting federal funding support to strengthen Northern Ontario’s agri-food sector. Announced on July 25, the $702,713 in funds will improve local value chains, advance technology adoption, and promote sustainable practices, according to FedNor, which is providing the funds. NOFIA will also assess key production and procurement challenges, and explore infrastructure investments to support aggregation, storage, and distribution.  The idea is to expand market opportunities and increase demand for products produced in Northern Ontario. “This investment is a game-changer for agriculture in Northern Ontario. It allows us to strengthen our regional food systems, support producers of all sizes, and explore innovative technologies that will shape the future of farming in the North,” said Emily Seed, NOFIA’s executive director, in a news release. “By working together with communities and partners, we’re helping to build a more sustaina

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service