Animal Welfare Activists Target Pig Castration

– Robyn Harte, MAFRI “It’s a recognized common practice in most of the world.” An animal welfare coalition is trying to end the practice of castrating male piglets by asking grocery stores in Canada to carry pork from intact pigs. “We politely ask you to take action and meet with your suppliers to discuss our

Ag Minister Blocks Ontario Pork Ruling For Review

Ontario’s agriculture minister has intervened against a provincial tribunal’s ruling that allowed hog farmers a “negative option” to sell hogs through a single marketing desk. Provincial legislation gives Agriculture Minister Carol Mitchell the authority to “confirm, vary or rescind” a decision made by her ministry’s appeal tribunal or send it back for a new hearing,


Pork Woes First On Agriculture Committee Menu

The first hearing of the Commons agriculture committee in the new session of Parliament was on a familiar topic – the financial hemorrhaging in the pork industry. For Jurgen Preugschas, president of the Canadian Pork Council and Jim Laws, executive director of the Canadian Meat Council, it was another opportunity to reiterate the problems facing

Hog Farm Transition Funding Booked Up

Another 93 bidders in the federal government’s hog farm transition program (HFTP) will share in its final allocation of $14.2 million, to fold up their hog operations for at least three years. The Canadian Pork Council, which administers the HFTP on Ottawa’s behalf, reported March 16 that 93 of 274 bids were accepted for the


Smithfield Returns To Profit, Tops Street View

U. S. hog and pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. posted its first quarterly profit since 2008 and said its hog unit, a longtime drag on results, should improve in the coming fiscal year. The company also said pork sales to China and Russia should resume soon, and restructuring its pork segment should boost earnings in

Russia Approves Pork From 11 U. S. Plants

Russia on March 11 approved 11 U. S. pork plants to resume pork shipments to that country and more plants may be approved, the U. S. Meat Export Federation told Reuters. “It is happening as we speak,” U. S. Meat Export Federation spokesman Jim Herlihy said of the approvals. The lifting of the ban on


The Wedge Effect

If recent reports are any indication, a growing number of consumers want to feel good about the food they eat – even if it means paying more for it. For example, a recent Context Marketing survey of consumers in the San Francisco Bay area found that 70 per cent of the respondents said they would

KSU Publishes Valuable Swine Research

Bernie Peet is president of Pork Chain Consulting Ltd. of Lacombe, Alberta, and editor of Western Hog Journal. His columns will run every second week in the Manitoba Co-operator. The swine research team at Kansas State University, under the leadership of Dr. Mike Tokach, has an enviable reputation for carrying out practical and relevant research.


Pork Exports To China Back On Track

Canadian pork products will be back on Chinese grocery store shelves after Canada secured the first certification agreement to allow pork imports to China, based on significant negotiations recognizing OIE standards, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says. In spring of 2009, China banned pork imports from H1N1-affected countries. That ban was lifted in December after Prime

Long-Awaited Hog Recovery Finally Happening

Relief is finally in sight for Manitoba’s beleaguered hog farmers after a financial battering that’s lasted nearly four years. Producers can expect to see profit margins of $20 to $25 a hog for most of 2010, beginning this spring, according to a Manitoba Pork Marketing Co-op outlook. The expected average fixed forward contract price from