The Saskatchewan government will pay up to $440,000 to process animals from the federal cull breeding swine program and donate the pork to food banks throughout the province.
Sask Pork, the province’s pork industry development board, will administer the funding and co-ordinate the processing of sows with hog farmers and processors, then handle distribution to food banks, the province said Friday.
“I would like to congratulate Sask Pork for making the best of a bad situation,” Premier Brad Wall said in a government release. “The donated meat will help thousands of Saskatchewan people, who rely on food banks, to help feed themselves and their families.”
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It’s well known that the industry is “going through a period where pork has little market value, similar to the situation beef producers experienced a few years ago,” said Neil Ketilson, Sask Pork’s general manager, in the province’s release.
“I was very excited by the attitude of co-operation that existed between all the parties involved to try to at least make the best of a very difficult situation for many rural families,” said Bill Hall, executive director for Food Banks of Saskatchewan, in the same release.
The $50 million federal cull program is meant to help the hog industry restructure by helping cut Canada’s swine breeding herd (sows, boars and pregnant gilts) by about 10 per cent. The program opened Monday for applications from hog farmers.
Qualifying producers, subject to application approval, will get $225 per breeding swine culled after April 14, and will get reimbursement for costs of slaughter and carcass disposal.
A payment of $225 per breeding swine less the selling price will be available for producers who sold animals from Nov. 1, 2007 until April 13 this year and can produce receipts and supporting documents.
