ST. GREGOR, Sask. – Area farmers and hog barn supporters gathered near
this central Saskatchewan town April 20 to eat pork on a bun and get a
look at the largest hog expansion in the province’s history.
Leroy Agra-Pork Co-op Ltd., the first new generation pork production
co-operative in Western Canada, officially opened one of its four
10,000-head feeder barns sites. It included tours of the barns and the
presentation of certificates to the co-op’s 100 shareholders.
The barns are part of a $40 million pork production system in the Leroy
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district. Stomp Pork Farm Ltd. and the Leroy co-op joined forces in
this venture in the weeks following a fire last February at Stomp’s
Leroy barn that destroyed 14,000 pigs.
Stomp Pork has built a 5,500-sow farrow to early weaning operation and
a 20,000-head nursery project.
A new feed mill at the nursery site is expected to be in full
production by June. It will buy as much as three million bushels of
barley from local farmers with shares in the co-op.
Stomp will lease the co-op barns to finish its pigs. The barns will
produce 2,400 finished hogs each week, or about 120,000 each year.
Combined with Stomp’s other hog operations in Saskatchewan, this
venture will allow it to ship 200,000 hogs to slaughter and breeding
markets annually.
Saskatchewan agriculture minister Clay Serby called the Leroy co-op a
model for other communities and “a prime example of what rural people
can do.”
The group raised $2 million in equity to support the project.
Serby expects this operation will help the province increase hog
production to three million by 2004 from the current two million.
He also cited planned improvements in local roads to create heavy haul
routes to accommodate increased truck traffic.
