Hog producers plead for help

Rick Bergman, chairman of the Canadian Pork Council, is pleading for help for hog farmers who continue to take heavy losses.

Patrick O’Neill, business development manager for the Ontario Pork producers marketing board, figures losses will be about $200 million this year.

Producers had hoped for a summertime price recovery that never came and now Bergman is asking the federal and provincial governments to tweak the AgriStability program to increase payouts to those with accounts in the program.

The existing rules set payouts at 70 per cent of historic incomes; the council wants that increased to 85 per cent.

Ontario Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman recently joined farmers in asking for a revamp of business risk management programs to help farmers cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All of the business risk management programs costs are shared by the federal government, the provinces and territories.