The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) is calling on the federal government to expand the breeding swine cull programme to include more slaughtered animals retroactively.
$225 per animal
The nation-wide culling programme, officially launched in mid-April, offered Canadian hog producers who agreed to de-populate breeding barns, and leave them empty of breeding stock for a minimum of three years, $225 per animal culled.
The program, created to reduce the Canadian breeding herd in an effort to bring supply back in line with demand and improve prices, also allowed producers who had decided to exit the industry, to do so with a certain amount of equity.
Already culled CPC president Jurgen Preugschas says that, because many producers had already culled a portion or all of their sows prior to the program’s November 1 cut off, CPC has asked agriculture minister Gerry Ritz to extend the date to August 1 to allow those producers who had started culling animals earlier to be part of that program.
Preugschas says that while the minister’s response has been positive the matter must go before cabinet for final approval. CPC has not yet been told whether or not cabinet has or will approve the extension of the program.