Dynamic Pork revealed plans two weeks ago to create a contract hog production network in the Killarney area of southwestern Manitoba.
The venture is expected to yield 37,000 hogs per year, said Dynamic Pork director Ken Foster. A good supply of grain and a low concentration of hog farms were cited as reasons for choosing the area.
The Rural Municipality of Turtle Mountain welcomes diversification of the local farm economy, said councillor Gerry Blixhavn. The municipality, which borders the town of Killarney, encourages livestock expansion as long as it meets environmental standards, he said.
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“We may not want (hog barns) on every quarter section, but there is room for tremendous expansion in our area. I think the area is virtually untouched by the hog industry as compared to eastern municipalities.”
Dynamic Pork was established last January by Manitoba Pork and N.M. Paterson & Sons Ltd. The new company was formed to develop and manage contract hog networks.
N.M. Paterson & Sons is building an inland grain terminal at Killarney that will include a toll mill to supply feed for the network.
Through the hog production network, a group of investors forms a corporation that owns the hogs. The corporation then contracts with independent operators, who may also be investors, to establish sow barns. Those barns supply weanlings to operators of feeder barns within the network.
Operating procedure
The proposed network will include a 1,700-head sow unit and a series of nine feeder barns. Each feeder barn will hold about 1,300 head. Investors share profits and losses when the pigs are sold.
Dynamic Pork intends to be a good neighbor in the areas where barns are built, Foster said. He believes the size of the barns should help the company achieve that. “We want to be wanted,” he said.
The feeder barns will be spread within a 50-kilometre radius of the mill at Killarney. The units will provide fertilizer to area farmers, said Larry Sedgwick, a Dynamic Pork spokesperson.
Dynamic Pork recently outlined its plans to representatives of municipalities in the Killarney area.
Bob McCallum, reeve for the rural municipality of Morton, west of Killarney, expects several benefits from the expansion of the hog industry. Hog barns create jobs, expand the local tax base and diversify the economy, he said.
“Farms have to diversify because grain farming isn’t what it used to be.”
However, McCallum said environmental issues have to be addressed as well. His municipality has a list of criteria that must be met before any new hog barns are built.
“I think we have to be positive about it, but we have to make sure we cover the bases.”
Dynamic Pork is looking for a qualified sow barn operator for the network. Once the sow barn is established, feeder barn operators will be chosen.
Farmers have already shown an interest in operating feeder barns within the network, Sedgwick said. If all goes as planned, the contract hog network could be in business next spring.
