The Manitoba hog industry got a rare bit of good news this week with the opening of a new hog assembly yard just north of Winnipeg.
On Sept. 3 the Manitoba Pork Marketing Co-op will begin operating its assembly yard at the corner of Highway 6 and the Perimeter Highway.
The site is already home to Winnipeg Livestock Sales, a cattle auction house, which is partly why Manitoba Pork Marketing selected the location, said Perry Mohr, the co-op’s chief executive officer.
“We chose that location because of its proximity to Winnipeg and some of our customer base. Number two, it presented to us the path of least resistance, in terms of we found the municipality really easy to work with,” said Mohr, noting the Rural Municipality of Rosser is used to the idea of a livestock yard in its jurisdiction.
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Last summer, the Pork Marketing Co-op closed its central assembly yard in Winnipeg, but the organization had to find a replacement.
“Opposed to one large central assembly yard, it was thought that several, smaller satellite yards would suffice,” said John Preun, president of the co-op.
The opening of the new facility on the outskirts of Winnipeg means the co-op will have three assembly yards in the province. The other two are in Neepawa and New Bothwell.
“Under current circumstances anyway, I would suggest this would probably be the final piece of the puzzle for us, in terms of assembly. We’ve got all corners of the province, the hog producing regions, covered off right now,” Mohr said.
The Perimeter Highway site will serve hog producers in the Interlake region and the Hutterite colonies around Elie, said Mohr, who expects the new assembly yard to handle a significant number of culled sows.
“We expect that facility to handle some of the number of animals that will go out of production, as a result of the financial state of our industry,” he said.
Mohr said the facility will also handle market hogs.
In another piece of good news for Manitoba hog producers, the Pork Marketing Co-op announced last week a pool price rebate of 50 cents for every hog sold through the co-op between Jan. 1 and July 31, 2009.
The co-op has increased its market share in 2009, Mohr said, noting that it is handling 3,000 to 4,000 more pigs per week, which is 15 percent higher than the last two years.
In addition to increased revenue, the organization has also restructured and cut costs, Mohr said. Combined, the two factors have led to the rebate.
“The fifty cents, given the fact that they’re losing $50 (per hog) is definitely small in comparison,” he acknowledged. “But every little bit helps, right?”
