The Ontario Pork marketing board is challenging lenders,
including Farm Credit Canada, to lower interest rates on loans to hog farmers
to the same level as loans to other farmers.
Doug Ahrens, director from Perth County, says “it’s not
fair” that hog farmers are being charged about 2.5 per cent more than others,
including highly-leveraged dairy farmers.
The interest rate challenge is one of about five goals the
directors have set as their highest priority issues for this year, Ahrens told
the annual meeting of the Waterloo Pork Producers Association held recently at
Linwood.
He said in conversation with a reporter that Farm Credit
Canada is making loans to dairy farmers on the basis of cash flow, not assets
such as land, quota and buildings.
The assets are, however, usually pledged as security.
