WINNIPEG, March 17 (CNS) – Inexpensive feed and a softer Canadian dollar have helped keep Canadian hog prices aloft in 2017.
“Right now producers are looking at C$180 to $184 a pig,” said Andrew Dickson, the general manger of Manitoba Pork. “Prices are looking pretty good for June, July, August.”
He says by July producers could see $200 per animal, which he described as strong overall and similar to 2016 values.
“The previous year, March of 2015, you were looking at July prices of $166 to $171,” he said.
He estimates 60 percent of the cost of raising a pig is feeding it, so the low cost of corn and other feed this season has been one of the main drivers in the market.
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He cautions producers won’t necessarily be able to use the crop that was not harvested last fall. A few million tonnes of grains and other crops are waiting to be threshed this spring. Many expect much of it to wind up in Prairie feedbins, but Dickson says it’s not that simple.
“We can’t use high fusarium levels in pigs. It’s an appetite suppressor,” he said. “That’s the last thing you want in a pig.”
Many producers on the Prairies are trucking their weanling pigs into the U.S. to finish them.
“They’re selling them to American farmers who use their own soymeal and corn. The big thing for corn growers is they love the manure,” he said.
Dickson says he has heard comments that the manure is giving producers a 10-percent yield boost, which exceeds most fertilizers.
So, by that metric it’s good for both sides.
“If you’re in Iowa and you’re growing a crop and you get a 10 percent (yield) increase, that’s roughly 20 bushels an acre,” he said.
However, the potential for spring flooding in Manitoba is one threat that could gum up the works for those near rivers.
“There are lots of pork operations near the Red River,” Dickson explained.
Despite that he’s confident producers will be able to protect their operations.
“We’ve had floods in the valley since the 1970s,” he said.
“Guys have built up berms around their operations and storage facilities, they’ve figured out how to cope with this.”
