Manitoba’s two world-scale hog processing plants should be good news for hog producers outside the province.
Manitoba will have to double the 4.7 million hogs produced in 1999 to meet the needs of Schneider Corp. and Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
“Whether the 10 million hogs will come from Manitoba is another story,” said Janet Honey, manager of market analysis and statistics with Manitoba Agriculture.
Manitoba farmers exported about 2.1 million hogs to the United States in 1999, more than half of which were weanlings, said Honey.
About 500,000 hogs came to Manitoba plants from other provinces, most from Alberta.
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Honey expects Manitoba plants will continue to import hogs from the west, and eventually from northern U.S. states.
Maple Leaf Pork president Pat Jones said he thinks there may have to be a 35 percent increase in prairie pork finishing.
Maple Leaf believes prairie hog barns will turn out 10 million hogs next year.
Total processing capacity will be about seven million hogs, he said.
“You still have a gap there of about three million pigs … being exported to the United States.”
Once processors step up their demand and prices start to rise, “diesel-fuel economics” will keep the pigs in Western Canada, Jones said.
He believes prairie processors will be importing hogs by the time Maple Leaf, Schneider and Fletcher’s Fine Foods bring their plants up to capacity.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from the U.S. from people who would like to sell us hogs.”
Business approach helps
Jones also said his company’s vertical co-ordination approach may help shrink the number of new barns needed to meet packers’ needs.
Closer, longer-term relationships in the supply chain can lead to more efficiencies, meaning farmers can turn more hogs through their existing operations.
“I really believe a lot of (the expansion) will come out of incremental production.”
