A new committee formed to find ways to increase hog-slaughter and pork-processing capacity in Ontario has held several meetings and is aiming to have a report ready by spring.
Blair Cressman, marketing division manager for Ontario Pork, said it’s been a desire for years, but the need continues to increase. While Quebec is drastically cutting hog production and the U.S. is forecast to produce fewer market hogs this year than last, Ontario production continues a slow and steady increase.
But there are about 24 per cent more market hogs than slaughter capacity in Ontario and tens of thousands of weaner pigs are being exported to the United States while they could be raised to market weight in Ontario were there enough slaughter capacity to support attractive pricing.
Producers are being invited to pledge support of $5 per hog by Feb. 22.
“Poop or get off the can,” laughed Cressman in winding up an address to about 100 people attending a producer meeting recently at Elora.
He said Ontario hogs are now going to the Maple Leaf Foods Inc. plant at Brandon, Man., and in the United States to Tyson at Loganport, Indiana, Clemens Food Group in Michigan and Hatfield, Pa., Leidy’ Premium Meats at Souderton, Pa., JBS at Louisville, Ky., J.H. Routh at Sandusky, Ohio, Rantoul Foods at Rantoul, Illinois, and others as far away as North Carolina.
He said the spike in diesel fuel prices last March also cut into returns on these exported hogs.
Cressman said there are examples of hog-slaughtering plants being successfully launched by hog producers, but they need to be prepared for a difficult start-up period.
He said Conestoga Meat Packers, now one of the two plants that dominate the Ontario market, had three difficult startup years. Now it has bought land adjacent to the plant east of Breslau and may soon be planning another expansion.
It has also been a pioneer in technology for high-quality pork, such as being the first to test pork fat for iodine content.
Pork fat with a moderate or low score for iodine content is firmer and that’s a highly desirable trait for buyers such as the Japanese. Conestoga pays a premium for hogs whose fat has an acceptably low iodine score.
The company is also taking a close look at equipment from Frontmatec of Germany which makes whole-hog images of a carcass, slice by slim slice, much like an MRI. It enables the packing company to identify the parts of the carcass that will meet clients’ discriminating desires.
It would also inform Conestoga members which of their hogs are the most valuable so they can adjust genetics and management.
For example, iodine scores can be improved by eliminating whole roasted soybeans or dried distiller’s grains from rations for five weeks before slaughter.
