Another $25 million will be available this month to Canadian pork producers hoping to exit the hog industry.
The third tender of the Hog Farm Transition Program will be held Jan. 20 at 2 p.m.
The program, announced last year, pays pork producers to sell their hogs and keep their barns empty for three years.
It was designed to reduce Canada’s hog inventory and spur the recovery of depressed North American pork markets.
Eligible producers must submit bids stating how much money they would accept to get out of the business for at least 36 months.
Bids are reviewed and producers submitting the lowest bids are accepted until all available funds are depleted.
So far, through two tenders, about $35 million of the program’s total $75 million budget has been allocated.
Producers who wish to take part in the third tender, worth $25 million, must submit their registration forms no later than Jan. 13.
A date for the fourth and final tender, worth approximately $15 million, has yet to be determined.
In the second tender process held in December 2009, $24 million was distributed among 115 successful bidders.
The weighted average of the successful bids was $872.91 per animal unit equivalent (AUE).
The lowest successful bid was $370 per AUE and the highest was $1,034.
The Hog Farm Transition Program is funded by Agriculture Canada and administered by the Canadian Pork Council.
