Manitoba Pork celebrated its 60th anniversary during its annual meeting and industry banquet Thursday in Winnipeg. Producers, processors and various stakeholders gathered at the Fairmont for the day full of meetings which was capped by an evening gala. There are currently 188 registered producers in the province, representing 608 farms and 22,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Chair Rick Préjet feels, right now, things feel positive in the industry, noting it's no secret the sector has faced its fair share of challenges over the years from low prices to U.S. trade action to challenging policy environments.
"It does feel positive, and I'm going to say that's to a large extent because our provincial government who's been extremely supportive of us," he shared. "We can talk about the past, and some issues that have been there with the moratorium and all that, but it's a different thing altogether. Our government here understands the importance of agriculture, and in particular hog production and how trade is important overall. Nothing but good things and support from our provincial government."
Préjet added profitability returned to the industry about a year ago, with strong prices continuing through the winter into this Spring which isn't typical. He said this has certainly encouraged people in the industry. Like almost everyone in Canadian agriculture, the hog industry is also keeping a close eye on the tariff situation and trade with the United States. He noted, because the sector is United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement compliant, at this point, hog producers are not facing tariffs on their exports southward.
Opportunities for growth
"The Maple Leaf (processing plant in Brandon) is not full right now, they're having to bring in some hogs from Ontario to help not even fill the plant, but to bring it up to a higher level," explained Préjet. "I do think, from my understanding, they would like to fill that plant completely. We do have about 3 million iso-weans going down south per year, which is always a bit of a risk with the border, so if we can keep some of those back here by building finishing barns. There is some interest, there's some people looking at switching their sow barns over."
With that said, he said it may take a while to get there considering building costs are extremely high right now.
Looking to the next sixty years
"Today you just have to be in communication with every level of government," stressed Préjet. "With the municipal, provincial, federal, we have to be present. We have to be present with our southern neighbours, and probably even expanding more our outreach outside of North America. We do trips to Japan and things like that. We're going to start maybe focusing more on Southeast Asia, Europe and things like that just to reduce our reliance on the U.S., because we ship a a huge amount there."
Préjet believes the Manitoba and Canadian hog industries are well positioned for future growth.
"We have the feed grains, we have the space, we have expertise, we have the genetics and we have the different Councils in every province doing a great job," he said. "It's not going to be dramatic growth, but it's going to be a continual growth, and I see Manitoba Pork playing a huge role in that continued, gradual and sustainable growth."
