The chair of Saskatchewan’s hog marketing board says the province has a responsibility to help pork producers.
“Free falling hog prices are an emergency that threatens the livelihood of pig farmers and the future of Saskatchewan’s hog industry,” said John Germs, chair of SPI Marketing Group.
“The reason I’m calling it an emergency is that, with the returns that we are getting for the hogs right now, there is no way a producer can make ends meet.
“In my mind it should be illegal to sell pigs for this low a price.”
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Germs said SPI’s board has agreed the situation demands urgent action and hopes to meet with provincial agriculture minister Eric Upshall before the end of the month.
“With the pork prices so low, it is a threat to our living and a threat to our industry that we have tried to create in this province, not only for producers and their families, but also to the packing industry.”
Germs said most hog producers need at least $140 per 100 kilograms to pay their expenses. In the first week of September, SPI’s cash prices dropped below $100 per 100 kg. SPI’s forward contracting program has a November price of $85 per 100 kilograms.
Germs said many producers have invested in expansion, encouraged by the provincial government’s strategy to triple hog production to take advantage of lower feed costs created by the end of transportation subsidies. He said that given the province’s policy, it has a “moral obligation to address the situation.
“They went out and promoted producers to expand their operations and now this is on the go. We are in a crisis now and government should do something to assist farmers in the downturn because the last thing this province needs is a decline in hog numbers.”
Germs wants to talk to Upshall about increasing contributions to the Net Income Stabilization Account program, creating a disaster assistance program for hog producers and encouraging private lenders to stick with hog producers through the current turmoil.
Upshall told reporters he is willing to listen but made no promises.
“I don’t think that there’s going to be any ad hoc support programs,” said the ag minister. “We’ll have to watch and see what happens but the problem with doing that is if we were to start in Saskatchewan and other provinces were to kick in … with our small tax base it’s always difficult to sort of match what Alberta or Ontario or B.C. does. I’m not sure you want to start a subsidy game here.
“I’m certainly willing to listen and talk, but remember, most producers do budget through the down cycle.”
Upshall said hog producers can contribute to NISA like other sectors such as cattle and grain, which are also experiencing low prices.
