Farm-Scape, Episode 2025

A representative of Ontario Pork suggests the free flow of hogs across the Canada US border is something that's good for the industries in both nations and that needs to be maintained.

Over the next three weeks representatives of Ontario Pork, Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork will travel to the US to participate in annual meetings and industry trade shows in Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.

The effort is designed to promote trade advocacy and help enhance Canada US relations.

Delegates will be in Minneapolis January 17, 18 and 19, Des Moines January 24, 25 and 26 and Columbus, Nebraska February 6 where they will visit with grassroots US producers and explain how the Canadian hog industry operates.

Ontario Pork Sales Team Manager Patrick O'Neil says the free movement of pigs across the border is good for both industries.

"We view North America as one market and we'll just be promoting, trying to develop new business relationships with producers and processors there and with the state associations.

Pork flows freely north and south across the border and we certainly market pigs into the United States.

There's feeder pigs that cross as well as market hogs and we think that that's good for the American industry and it's good for our industry so we need to continue to cultivate those relationships.

The United States is a big exporter and a lot of the pork that's exported will be from pigs that were grown in Canada."

O'Neil points out representatives of the associations in the US have recently visited Ontario and relationships have been improving.

He adds Canadian operators regularly spend time with their US customers and many of these customers will be attending the trade shows.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.