Government of Canada delivers support for hog industry restructuring

August 17, 2009

Ottawa – Ted Menzies, Member of Parliament for Macleod and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, is pleased to advise that the Government of Canada is delivering a comprehensive restructuring plan for pork producers by investing in key marketing initiatives to get more customers buying Canadian pork, providing government-backed credit to help viable operations weather the current economic uncertainty and helping struggling operations to transition out of the industry.

“Our Conservative Government continues to put farmers first and to show strong support for the hog sector in these difficult economic times” said Menzies “We are working with the pork industry to help hog farmers recover or exit the industry, and to help the industry take advantage of new market opportunities. “

The new initiatives include:

• An International Pork Marketing Fund of $17 million for eligible market research, promotion and access initiatives to find new customers for Canadian pork products.
• Long-term loans with government-backed credit that financial institutions can offer to allow viable hog operations to restructure their businesses. These long-term loans will be provided at market rates. Producers with sound business plans will be able to access short-term credit for operating costs such as feed and payroll.
• A Hog Farm Transition Program to allow producers to tender bids for the amount of funding they need for transition out of the hog industry and cease hog production for at least three years. This program will invest up to $75 million to gradually reduce production and oversupply issues.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada officials are working closely with the pork industry and financial institutions to finalize program details. These new initiatives respect Canada’s commitments made under international trade agreements and ensure Canadian pork producers will continue to have access to market opportunities around the world.

Detailed program information will become available over the next few weeks. For more information, visit www.agr.gc.ca.