Reading Time: 2 minutes The meat packing arm of Quebec’s La Coop federee has budgeted $25 million for a major expansion project at its hog slaughter and butchering plant at St-Esprit, Que. Olymel’s expansion plan, announced Tuesday, is expected to bring the plant’s floor space to over 215,000 square feet, up by about 35,000 square feet, and boost its […] Read more
Olymel plans major expansion for Quebec hog plant
Feeding the Indian tiger
Move over China. Food sales to India are set to roar
Reading Time: 5 minutes “The Indians are crazy for red lentils… potential sales are incredible,” says Lance Walker, head of Lazer Enterprises Inc. in Borden, Sask. Walker was working in a trade show booth as he told me this, one of the representatives of the 23 Canadian businesses that were participating at the 31st Aahar Food Hospitality Trade Fair […] Read more
Canada’s hog farmers suspect U.S. truck washes in PED fight
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian farm groups are blasting U.S. truck washes for being too dirty to prevent the spread of a virus that has killed millions of piglets in recent years, exposing a dispute over the effectiveness of such facilities in North American agriculture. The brewing battle over trucks comes as Manitoba, which slaughters more swine […] Read more
Cash hog market benefits from barbecue season
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada –– The Canadian hog market is gearing up to start bringing home the bacon. Weekly cash hog prices are higher on continued stronger seasonal pork cutout values, with lower supply creating better prices. “Prices generally do increase over the summer,” said Brad Marceniuk, a provincial livestock economist in Saskatoon. “I expect hog prices […] Read more
Where have all the hog farmers gone?
They’ve gone to Manitoba, where they’re enjoying some good years in the face of a long list of challenges
Reading Time: 9 minutes Despite losing nearly 14,000 pig farmers since 1971, Manitoba still produces more pigs than any other province, accounting for just under a third of Canada’s total pork production, and well over half of its exports. For nearly three decades, Manitoba has had a front row seat on the peaks and valleys of Canada’s hog industry. […] Read more
Ending the moratorium on new hog barns?
Manitoba’s 10-year old ban on new barns means almost half of the province’s pigs still get finished in the U.S.
Reading Time: 2 minutes People aren’t the only thing Manitoba needs more of. A shortage of slaughter pigs continues to be a nagging problem. Maple Leaf’s Brandon facility struggles to keep a second shift operating at capacity, searching for additional hogs to process, while HyLife has gone outside the province to keep its Neepawa plant at capacity. “We are […] Read more
Manitoba hog producers worry as PED continues spread
Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada — Hog industry officials are increasingly concerned how Manitoba producers will be impacted after another hog farm in southeastern Manitoba confirmed a case of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) on Saturday. The province, which until last week hadn’t reported any new on-farm cases since January 2015, logged new cases in the southeast on May […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle limit down after bearish USDA surprise
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle and feeder cattle futures tumbled by their respective daily price limits on Monday, declining two per cent or more in a selloff triggered by bearish U.S. Department of Agriculture data released after Friday’s session. Cattle gapped lower on their price charts at the opening of trading, before locking […] Read more
A+W books further sales growth, shifts bacon sourcing
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian burger and root beer chain A+W has logged a 12th straight quarter of same-store sales growth, this time following a shift in pork sourcing for its bacon supply. The Vancouver-based income fund on Tuesday reported gross sales of $243.8 million among the 838 restaurants in its royalty pool for its first quarter ending March […] Read more
Beijing to release frozen pork to temper price rise
Reading Time: < 1 minute Beijing | Reuters –– Beijing will release 3.05 million kilograms of frozen pork from its reserves over the next two months to combat rising pork prices, the city government said on Wednesday. Starting from Thursday and lasting until July 4, the Beijing municipal government will sell 50,000 kg of pork each day to 121 supermarket chains […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
