Saskatoon’s aging hog slaughter plant is giving Saskatchewan producers the willies, but they are trying to see its problems as an opportunity.
The writing may be on the wall for the old Mitchell’s Gourmet Foods slaughter plant, but producers hope the owner, Maple Leaf Foods, can be convinced to build a new plant there.
“We’ve opened the door to Maple Leaf and said maybe it’s time for a new plant here, one that could be expanded and will grow the industry,” said Neil Ketilson, general manager of Sask Pork.
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“We want to be proactive. We would dearly love to have a plant here in Saskatchewan and Saskatoon and it would impede the industry if it wasn’t here.”
While the Mitchell’s processing plant that opened in 2001 is state of the art, its slaughter plant was built early in the 20th century and was originally an automobile factory. Livestock slaughter began with the plant taking a number of animal species, but in recent decades it became a swine-only plant.
While the plant has many modern processing sections and some robots, its killing facilities are old and inefficient, industry analysts say. That has led to Saskatchewan hog prices being consistently less than those offered in Manitoba and Alberta.
A year ago Maple Leaf Foods bought Schneider Corp., the owner of Mitchell’s, from Smithfield Foods, giving it major kill facilities in Brandon and Saskatoon.
Maple Leaf has often talked about adding a second shift to its Brandon plant, but has not done so yet. Ketilson said Saskatchewan producers have been worried about Mitchell’s fate because an expansion of the Brandon plant could push Maple Leaf to shut down slaughter in Saskatoon.
A year ago Mitchell’s lost its ability to export to the United States because of problems with its ventilation system. After being unable to meet the standards of a Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points program, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency removed Mitchell’s from the list of approved exporters of food products to the United States.
Mitchell’s is working to rectify the problem, but industry observers say fixing the old plant might cost more than any owner would be willing to pay.
Ketilson said Sask Pork has already developed a business plan for a new hog slaughter plant for Saskatchewan and is trying to convince Maple Leaf to consider it. Brandon may have a newer plant to expand, but Saskatchewan might be a better place to collect pigs for slaughter.
“I think we have a chance in Saskatoon,” said Ketilson. “We have the labour force, the animals and a lot of opportunity to expand right here.”
In contrast, Brandon does not have the large labour force of Saskatoon and it is far from Saskatchewan’s growing herd. The province had the highest increase in sow numbers in Canada last year.
Outlook, Sask., producer Ross Johnson said farmers are worried about the situation because they do not want to be caught in the middle far from the major slaughter plants, Olymel in Red Deer and Maple Leaf in Brandon.
“There’s talk on the streets about it. There’s a huge concern for the Saskatchewan industry,” said Johnson. “(Losing the Mitchell’s plant) would really take a bargaining chip out of their hands and adds transportation costs.”
Ketilson said the Sask Pork business plan for a replacement plant includes the possibility of producers providing some of the equity. Farmers want to have adequate slaughter capacity locally, because relying on the U.S. market to soak up surplus production is tenuous.
“There are a lot of producers out there who think we need to control our own destiny,” said Ketilson. “We are very efficient up here. If we can have good, efficient slaughter facilities, we can increase livestock production in this province and we’ll all be better off.”
