Last week the federal government announced Hylife Foods will receive 10 million dollars under the Slaughter Improvement Programme to increase the capacity of its Neepawa hog slaughtering plant and expand value added processing.

Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette MP Bob Sopuck says livestock production is a more labour intensive kind of business so the livestock industry generates significant value added employment opportunities which do nothing but good things in terms of stabilising our rural communities.

Bob Sopuck-Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette MP

The 10 million will be used to enhance production at the plant and also to ensure that the quality is maintained.

It's already a very high quality plant but they have very demanding customers and they have a sharp eye on quality at all times.

Hylife has developed some specialty lines of product for the Asian market.

It's a tough competitive market and Hylife needs this to stay there.

In terms of other benefits we're looking at an additional approximately 250 full time jobs.

That plant already supports 600 full time jobs so when it's all said and done it'll be up to 850 workers which is a remarkable contribution to the region of Manitoba that I represent.

Then when one looks at the hog industry in Manitoba as a whole, right now there's between 10 and 12 thousand full time primary, secondary and tertiary jobs in not just hog facilities and for producers but also in trucking and veterinary services and so on and so on.

So the plant was a major player in Manitoba's hog industry and it will now be even more of a major player.

Mr Sopuck says the improvements will make Hylife Foods a very sharp competitor and a desired place from which those Asian customers will buy their pork.

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