InterPig is an international network of swine economists who collect and exchange standardized information on swine production costs and productivity in various countries for comparison.

Mark Ferguson, the Manager of Industry and Policy Analysis with the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board and a member of InterPig, reports swine production costs in Canada last year compared quite favorably with those in competing nations.

Mark Ferguson-Sask Pork

In 2010 the total costs of production in Canada was about $1.54 per kilogram and what we know is in 2010 both Brazil and the US reported a lower cost of production with the US averaging about $1.43 per kilogram and southern Brazil had a cost of about $1.38.

So, while we weren't the lowest cost producers in the world we were very close and I think considering what the dollar did in 2010 that we're in a very good position.

In terms of comparing with European countries the EU average in 2010 was about $2.12 per CKG so we're definitely producing at a lower cost than the EU producers.

The lowest cost reported in the EU was France at $1.86 per kilogram.

Mr Ferguson notes, at $1.43 per kilogram, Canadian producers received the lowest price of all of the countries in the dataset, the US was about ten cents higher at $1.55 and Brazil was quite a bit higher at $1.93.

He says producers in the EU, which receive a really high price, lost from $7.00 dollars to $70.00 per hundred kilograms compared to losses of $10.00 dollars per hundred kilograms in Canada so, although Canada has among the lowest production costs in the world when combined with the low price Canadian producers continued to operate at a loss in 2010.