SASKATOON (Staff) – While Alberta and Manitoba hog production is steady, high feed prices have pushed Saskatchewan production down and it’s likely to fall further, the general manager of the SPI marketing group says.
“There’s a lot of nervousness about very expensive grain and whether the market is going to remain strong enough to offset that,” said Jim Morris.
He said provincial production has been cut by two to three percent, a drop of about 500 hogs per week to a present level of 20,000. The present hog price outlook is quite good, but there’s much less certainty for prices in late 1996, Morris said.
While there has not been a huge drop in Saskatchewan hog production, any drop isn’t a promising sign, he said.
“It’s certainly opposite from where most people would say the industry should go,” Morris said.
He said in the long-term he expects to see gradual growth, but the jump in feed prices has caused a serious blip.
“Every time you look at the paper the grain shortage appears to be worse,” Morris said.
