Requiem for Nova Scotia hog industry
US - Facing rising feed costs and a more competitive Canadian dollar, hog producers in Nova Scotia have been lobbying the Department of Agriculture to help through yet another crisis. Unfortunately, the province isn’t willing to do anymore than it already has.Responding to a letter from NDP agriculture critic John MacDonell, Agriculture Minister Brooke Taylor said the province is not going to give additional funds to struggling hog farmers, saying it already has the most generous financial support programs in Atlantic Canada. It seems the departmen is willing to let what was once a healthy industry just disappear.
The hog industry in Noa Scotia has been in freefall for more than a decade with hard times starting when feed assistance programs were cut by Ottawa in the early 1990s. From there, farmers have seen production costs increase while market costs remained low.
For farmers, like Warren’s Joe Van Vulpen, the downturn has forced him to look south. He now sends his pigs to the United States for finishing while his farm is now much smaller than it was.