Steve Schmeichel suggests Canada should bear part of the blame for the disappearance of almost half the hog producers in South Dakota over the past five years.
He suspects at least a portion of Canadian hog producers are getting paid government incentives that allow them to expand, even when market signals point to the need to trim the size of the North American sow herd to avoid overproduction.
“And in turn, they send a lot of those pigs down here to the U.S.,” said Schmeichel, owner of a farrow-to-finish operation at Hurley, S.D.
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“All producers, whether they’re from Canada or the United States, have to have a little more common sense when it comes to just continuing to grow and grow and grow.”
Those sentiments are behind a decision by the U.S. National Pork Producers Council and other industry members to file anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases against Canadian live hog imports.
In the petitions, filed March 5 with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission, American hog producers claim that the growth of “unfair imports” from Canada is the main reason for a depressed hog industry in the United States.
American producers want their government to investigate whether Canadian hog producers are getting illegal subsidies and selling hogs into the U.S. at prices below those in Canada, a practice that could be regarded as dumping under international trade rules.
The petition filed last week alleges that Canadian producers benefit from billions of dollars in government subsidies. The NPPC’s international trade counsel, Nick Giordano, said the subsidized and dumped Canadian hogs are destroying American producers’ livelihoods.
U.S. hog producers want anti-dumping and countervailing duties ranging from five to 20 percent imposed on imports of live hogs from Canada. Pork and Canadian breeding stock were excluded from the petition.
The National Pork Producers Council represents 44 affiliated state associations, giving it considerable clout. Among those eager to see an investigation under way are producers in South Dakota.
“We don’t want money, we want a level playing field,” said Jeremy Freking, executive director of the South Dakota Pork Producers Association.
“This is a concern to producers all across the country and that’s no different in South Dakota.”
According to the NPPC, hog imports from Canada grew from 5.3 million head in 2001 to 7.3 million head in 2003. That increase has depressed prices, said NPPC president Jon Caspers, and threatens the survival of thousands of American hog producers.
Canada’s hog industry and Agriculture Canada reject the allegations. However, even neighbouring states like Minnesota favour an investigation.”If there’s an unfair subsidy going on in Canada, then that’s a concern,” said Dave Preisler of Minnesota Pork Producers.
“That’s what we’ll find out with this process.”
