Is the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis hurting Canadian pork producers?
“We don’t know. Maybe. We are unsure,” said Jacques Pomerleau of Canada Pork International.
“It’s very hard to quantify.”
Analysts are awaiting statistics on meat consumption and exports since the May 20 discovery of one Alberta cow with BSE.
But they suspect excess beef is sloshing around the Canadian market, shoving out pork. Steaks are still selling at normal prices in the supermarkets, but ground beef specials are as common as flies in a barn.
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“It appears that the domestic market for pork in Canada has declined,” said Manitoba Agriculture meat market analyst Janet Honey.
Maple Leaf Foods has cut back slaughter at its Brandon plant. It has also cancelled its usual orders from the Springhill Farms plant in Neepawa, Man., which has shut down most operations.
That appears to be sending pigs to American plants.
In late April, Manitoba plants were slaughtering 94,000 pigs per week. In July, slaughter was down to 71,000 per week.
“Where are those pigs going?” asked Honey.
“It must be somewhere, because we have not reduced our production.”
Pomerleau said he has not seen a big price change from Canadian pigs being sent to U.S. packers, but he does not know whether those pigs are holding the market down.
“It’s hard to tell because we’re getting a lot of conflicting messages,” he said.
Honey said cheap beef is just another blow for pork producers this year, who have seen their hopes for a profitable summer dashed.
“It’s too bad for the hog guys, because this year they were going to be making money. Then the dollar went up … and then this happened,” said Honey.
“They don’t need the consumption of pork to go down.”
