Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Wednesday's Pork Meeting - Dire Situation

Here is a report on last night's meeting in Stratford - from AM920 CKNX in Wingham.


There were some dire predictions at a pork industry meeting in Stratford.

Over 500 stakeholders gathered last night to learn more about restructuring, debt mediation and transition strategy options for struggling pork producers.

Perth County Pork Producers Association President, Mike Bosch says he is skeptical of the recently announced Federal loan and the "Hog Farm Transition" programs.

He says he's not sure it's enough money to do anything.

Bosch says there are a lot of pork producers in trouble and he wouldn't be surprised if at least 50 per cent of them run out of money to operate by the end of the calendar year.

He adds the main goal of last night's "Canadian Pork Industry in Crisis - Are You Ready" event in Stratford was to give producers the information and tools they need to help determine their future.

Views: 62

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on September 10, 2009 at 1:27am
Given that there is only $75 million (+-) for restructuring, $17 million for research and marketing (which is okay for marketing), and unknown for loans - it will definitely be insufficient.
Farmgate sales for the pork sector in Huron- Perth region in 2006 was over $290 million - representing almost a quarter of the total farmgate sales of ALL the main commodities.
Huron, Perth, and Oxford Cty produce the bulk of pork in Ontario (on a per county basis), and the claim in the industry is $40 per market hog in losses - the three counties will lose in excess of $66 million in the second and third quarters of 2009. I realize the actual hog numbers are most likely lower today than in 2006, but the point is that the losses in this region is, and will be, substantial due to the infrastructure surrounding the pork sector - feed mills, trucking, parts and equipment suppliers, hog assembly yards...
So really - when you spread the $75 million and the $17 million across CANADA - how much of an impact will it really have?
May 16, 2006 census for Nursery & Market hogs on farm
Huron - 639,842; Perth - 598,260; Oxford - 424691

Wayne
Permalink Reply by pigsrgr8 on September 11, 2009 at 6:43am
I was not able to make the meeting the other night....not sure what the right path is for pork production in Ontario.
I wish the government could help but it is hard to count on that....markets need to correct but it is looking like that is going to take too long.

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

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

Maizex Seeds Breaks Ground on $8.8 Million State-of-the-Art Seed Corn Facility in Blenheim

Maizex Seeds has announced an $8.8 million investment in a new seed corn processing and packaging facility at its Blenheim, Ontario.

Pulse Market Insight #288

Crop Prospects for 2026 This seems to be the time of year when there’s a flood of reports looking back at the past year or gazing ahead to the new year. While looking backward allows a person to gauge their grain marketing performance, hindsight generally doesn’t provide much help for making decisions about the upcoming year. In fact, every marketing year is different. Making next year’s decisions based on last year’s successes or failures can be counterproductive. After all, acreage will shift and while there are always hopes for big yields, the odds of record output happening again in 2026 are very unlikely. In addition, global trade will also change (hopefully for the better) and affect next year’s market prospects. This is also the time of year when we start thinking about farmers’ planting decisions for next spring. There are many factors going into those decisions, especially crop rotation considerations, but prices and profitability are also important. Typically, we use basic

Tariffs, policy changes and a record crop: APAS reflects on 2025

The President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) described 2025 as a busy one with no shortage of challenges and some good news sprinkled in. Bill Prybylski did a year-end interview with Ryan Young, host of SaskAgToday and Ag News Director of 620 CKRM. You can find the full interview on SaskAgToday.com under the unfiltered section.   Prybylski said tariffs from the United States, China, and India - three of Canada's major trading partners - was the number one issue for APAS in terms of resources used to understand the impact on farmers and lobbying efforts.   Currently, China has tariffs on Canadian canola oil, seed, meal, yellow peas, seafood and pork. The U.S. currently has tariffs on Canadian lumber, upholstered wood products, and any product non-compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). India has an import duty on yellow peas from all countries, including Canada. Canada has counter-tariffs on American steel, aluminium, and aut

Year-End Ag and Energy Markets Face Broad Commodity Pressure

Weekly market data for late 2025 shows year-end liquidation and global supply gluts pressuring soybeans, wheat, and crude oil, while gold reaches record highs.

China might start importing corn and wheat

What happens with the wheat market going forward largely depends on China, says an analyst. Canadian farmers harvested a record 40 million tonnes of wheat in 2025, including 29.3 million tonnes of spring wheat. The good news is that exports have been surpassing last year’s record pace so far in 2025-26. Chuck Penner, analyst with LeftField Commodity Research, thinks exports could hit a record 24 million tonnes, although it is still early days. The problem with this year’s wheat market is that there was record production by the top seven exporters. Minneapolis wheat futures have been relatively flat despite the global glut of the commodity, indicating that something is going on with the demand side of the ledger. Penner said China has not been getting enough attention. There are reports of significant quality losses with China’s corn and spring wheat crops. China’s farmers just finished harvest, and corn and wheat prices are already starting to rebound, suggesting that domestic s

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service