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Manitoba pork producers seek $130 million to deal with financial crisis

By: The Canadian Press

Monday, Sep. 17, 2012 at 6:27 PM | Comments: 3

Pigs are seen in Saint Hughes, Que. April 30, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

WINNIPEG - A Manitoba farm group is calling for $130 million in government loan guarantees to help producers deal with what it calls the worst crisis in the history of Canada's pork industry.

Keystone Agricultural Producers said a combination of high feed costs and low prices is forcing producers out of business.

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Monday he has asked officials to explore all assistance options under current programs.

"Our government has a full suite of programs to help the pork industry and we've set up a Hog Industry Task Team to monitor the current situation," he said.

Keystone President Doug Chorney said the situation is so bad that farmers are selling off their breeding animals because they can't afford to feed them.

He said the recent decision by Puratone, one of Manitoba's largest hog producers to seek creditor protection, is not an isolated incident.

Chorney warned that family farms will be lost and hundreds of people could lose their jobs in related industries unless Ottawa and the province intervene immediately.

He said pork producers in other provinces are facing the same financial distress.

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Posted by:JOHN FEFCHAK

September 18, 2012 at 10:31 AM

One very important piece of information, that we should recognize.

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

Ronald Reagan. 40th President of the United States. 1981 −1989.

Posted by:JOHN FEFCHAK

September 17, 2012 at 7:23 PM

Here we go AGAIN…Bailing out Corporations. Seems they are at the public trough for money every time there is trouble with too many hogs, too few hogs and now, they can’t afford to feed the hogs. !
I think the people have to start saying…Get your hand out of my pocket.! I am tired of
paying for a business that relies on government handouts to keep operating.
The family farm where I purchase my free range pork are doing just fine.

Posted by:Deborah Boschman

September 17, 2012 at 1:20 PM

We had better WAKE UP right across our province and REAL soon!

Farmers in the U.S. are saying from Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, etc. that there is REAL DROUGHT in these and other areas.

Visitors to these and other states within the U.S. are saying that they have NEVER seen anything like this before!

They are saying that they are seeing brown fields, dried up corn fields, NO water in some of their brooks, river beds and streams.

MANY farmers within the U.S. are VERY WORRIED about HOW they are going to be able to AFFORD to feed their animals this winter!

MANY farmers within Manitoba are saying that there are MANY areas within our province which are VERY DRY also.

These farmers are also saying that their river beds, streams and brooks are the LOWEST that they have EVER seen also.

I think that we may have come to the point where EACH COMMUNITY is SERIOUSLY going to have to PRODUCE and GROW their OWN FOOD in order to feed their OWN populations.

I think that SELF SUFFICIENCY is certainly something that we need to look at becoming within each of our communities and within our province.

Germany is almost entirely energy SELF SUFFICIENT and has been for SOME TIME now.

We have a HUGE food crisis on the horizon within our province, nation and globally that SERIOUSLY needs to be talked about, planned for and addressed now!

We definitely DON'T NEED ANY MORE farmers committing suicide because of the crisis on their farms such as the cattle farmers experienced!

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