The federal government has committed $50 million to help the Canadian hog industry remove as many as 150,000 sows from the herd.
In a livestock aid package announced Feb. 25, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said it will help the Canadian hog industry shrink in an effort to increase depressed prices.
The Canadian Pork Council will draw up the rules and administer the program that will make $225 per animal available to remove breeding sows from the herd. The goal is to reduce the national breeding herd by 10 percent above normal cull with participating producers required to empty at least one barn and not restock for at least three years.
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Rules for farmer eligibility and limits on individual farm entitlement have not yet been announced.
“This initiative will help restructure the industry to bring it in line with market reality,” Ritz told a Feb. 25 news conference.
Canadian Pork Council president Clare Schlegel said the money will be a vital incentive to convince producers that the Canadian herd is too large.
“The sow retirement program will facilitate producers’ downsizing or exiting production,” he said.
CPC leaders have been assuring governments that if immediate help is made available, many producers will leave the industry rather than continue to suffer losses.
