Does anyone else find it coindental that so many hog barns are on fire this year? You know, at the same time the farmers have been complaining that the market sucks...
Manitoba Pork Marketing Co-Op will stop receiving hogs at its 750 Marion Street location, and the operation will shut down.
The facility has operated for the past 43 years since the time when Winnipeg was known as "Little Chicago."
At that time, thousands of cattle and hogs were assembled daily at the Saint Boniface stock yards. CEO Perry Mohr says at its peak, the Marion location received 7,000 hogs each day to be distributed to one of six Manitoba processors, or to an export destination.
Manitoba's fire commissioner says the province will finally move ahead with plans to develop farm building safety codes, on the heels of a hog barn blaze that killed 6,500 pigs in the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie Wednesday.
"There's now finally an agreement by all parties involved that we do need to have something ... some type of building regulation," said provincial fire commissioner Doug Popowich.
<blockquote><cite>Posted By: wpg_idiot</cite>And just this morning I heard a quip on the radio about some farms euthanizing their herds because of the bottomed out market.</blockquote>I'd read about that possibility a few weeks ago. It will cost the rancher (?) more to keep the piglets alive and sell them then it would to destroy them. I'd also read that a deal was struck to donate the pigs to local charities. I understood that was what was to happen. I hope that they were not slaughtered and buried.
<blockquote><cite>Posted By: grumpy old man</cite><blockquote><cite>Posted By: wpg_idiot</cite>And just this morning I heard a quip on the radio about some farms euthanizing their herds because of the bottomed out market.</blockquote>I'd read about that possibility a few weeks ago. It will cost the rancher (?) more to keep the piglets alive and sell them then it would to destroy them. I'd also read that a deal was struck to donate the pigs to local charities. I understood that was what was to happen. I hope that they were not slaughtered and buried.</blockquote>
There was an offer not so long ago by the province I believe.
Sell the Sows for $250 a piece and they go to "charity" Harvest, Soup Kitchens and so on. On the other hand they are bonded not to raise new Stock for three Years. Hmm sell 1000 Sows for a 1/4M and go on a three year Cruise. Might have worked for some of them farmers. Others seem to have insurance :-)
stefan
Edit: grammar, math Add: should have said... "some seem to have an insurance roast... not so uncommon.
Can one get insurance to protect one from low market prices (no market prices)?
I won't be editing for math because I don't know the numbers, but... If they do sell them for $250 and they cost the rancher $100 maybe they do well. But if they cost $300 to raise then it will be a very sh!tty cruise as the rancher loses money on every pig he sells. That is not good business.