Alfred LeBlanc says the most important part about raising hogs is people.
LeBlanc’s hogs have been going to Intercontinental Packers in Saskatoon all his working life.
At the age of 17 he got into the business. That was before the provincial hog marketing board was established.
LeBlanc, who farms near St. Denis, Sask., said the company’s founder, Fred Mendel, had a personal relationship with producers. When the young LeBlanc told Mendel he wanted to get into hogs, but couldn’t afford it, Mendel arranged to provide feed free for the first six months, with the bill paid off as hogs were delivered.
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It might not be possible to have such a close one-on-one relationship today, but LeBlanc thinks a strong connection between packer and producer is necessary if Saskatchewan’s pig herd is going to expand enough to fill Intercon’s demand.
Last week Intercon announced a $14 million expansion and the intention to more than double slaughter to two million hogs a year. One million will be further processed for the domestic market while the other million will be shipped to Tai Fang Foods in Taiwan.
The announcement fills a hole in the province’s pork strategy. The government has set a goal of producing three million hogs a year by 2005, up from about one million last year.
The question was how many of those hogs would be processed in the province.
The Intercon announcement ensures the majority of Saskatchewan hogs will be slaughtered at home.
Although in the past Intercon has benefited from assistance from the provincial government, the expansion and refinancing announced last week are all private-sector financed.
But the government is helping to spur hog production. In March it announced a program that rebates sales tax on building materials. It also has an investment in a swine genetics company.
But LeBlanc said the industry needs more: “Concrete is our least problem. Genetics don’t mean squat if you don’t have the people to take care of the animals,” he said.
He believes family members are the only workers who will have the care and commitment, at the right wage, to make his operation successful.
This is an issue beyond Saskatchewan. All three prairie provinces are committed to expanding their herds.
Education systems and job counselling centres will have to pay attention to the employment needs of hog operations.
