Quebec pork producers receive funding from province, feds

Quebec City, Que. – Quebec’s pork sector has received a financial boost from the federal and provincial governments.

In a statement issued today, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced that a total of $1.4 million in financial assistance will go to the pork sector.

Both the provincial and federal governments have contributed a total of $1.2 million, says the statement, “through a contribution agreement signed under AgriRisk Initiatives, a program stemming from the Growing Forward 2 policy framework.

That investment will go to improving “the Market Risk Management Service, which was launched in 2000 by the Éleveurs de porcs du Québec to help producers handle large price fluctuations without having to individually secure the financing required by financial markets.”

David Boissonneault, the chair of the Éleveurs de porcs du Québec, says pork producers in Quebec often face market fluctuations. So “the SGRM tool improves the accessibility of hedging markets and promotes better risk management for hog businesses,” he says in the statement.

“Les Éleveurs de porcs du Québec are pleased with the financial contribution of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec, which will improve the economic performance of businesses and the quality of services offered to producers.”

The federal government is also contributing $198,033, provided through the AgriInnovation program. This investment will “enable the Centre de développement du porc du Québec (CDPQ) to carry out a project aimed at assessing the impact of a precision feeding system on growth performance, productivity and feed costs in group-housed gestating sows.”

“As a centre of expertise in pork production that disseminates and transfers knowledge, the CDPQ will provide Canadian pork producers with concrete, relevant answers on the effects of precision feeding on gestating sows and more specifically on its economic impact and effects on sow performance,” says Normand Martineau, the president of the CDPQ.

“Furthermore, given the new reality of housing sows in groups, which involves buying new equipment, the results of this project will help producers make decisions on what type of feeding system they should adopt.”