A Grande Prairie, Alta., hog producer who owes his bank $2.2 million after an ill-timed expansion says he’d make the same decision again.
“I’m sure if I rolled the clock back to that day I’d make the same decision and expand the operation just because it’s what’s needed. The industry has to do those sorts of things to become viable,” said Clint Rempel.
Voted Canada’s top young farmer for 1997, Rempel added a 2,000-head finisher barn to his 350-sow farrow-to-finish operation a year and a half ago. He was prepared for the downturn in the hog cycle, but didn’t expect it would hit so hard.
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Last November he realized he could lose his operation and began to aggressively market his animals in the local market, where he sold them for $125 per hog. In January Rempel, who owns the business with his parents, ran radio ads and sold close to 1,100 hogs in direct sales.
“But all that did is basically kept me current a little bit longer.”
In March his bank served him with a foreclosure notice, giving him until April 1 to pay off his debts. Rempel knows that isn’t possible and when interviewed last week expected a receiver to come in and manage the finances until the assets are liquidated.
“It’s inevitable that some guys are going to have to drop off the map to get the prices back up to where people can make money again. The unfortunate part is it looks like my bank has decided I’m going to be one of the guys who has to leave.”
Others will be hit
He expects that the Peace River district will lose half of its hog industry before prices get significantly better while Alberta as a whole will lose one in five producers.
While he appreciates Alberta’s Farm Income Disaster Program, Rempel thinks farm aid is a Band-aid solution. The government should provide risk management tools and decrease regulatory start-up costs.
Rempel thinks it’s almost impossible for farmers to do much to stop the losses because packers set the hog prices.
“Unfortunately everything is formulated off what happens in the United States.”
He said packers have to realize “we have a Canadian industry here and they need to look after it instead of worrying about what’s happening to big brother to the South.”
As well, he thinks producers should look into joining co-operatives so they won’t have to take the falls alone.
“As a family farm you can’t go through these things yourselves. You need a better link or some sort of chain. It’s easier to ride it out when you’ve got 20 or 30 investors along with you.”
