Behind the Lines - October 2013

Thursday, October 10, 2013

When Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer in the world, announced in late May that it was being purchased by a Chinese-based conglomerate with a name most couldn't pronounce, some people in the industry were gob-smacked. What did it mean? Would the U.S. government allow the sale to take place? Would a large amount of American-produced pork be sucked away to a market across the Pacific, opening up demand here?

Canada has a relatively short history of exporting pig meat to China, so Senior Staff Editor Don Stoneman started looking at the Chinese market by speaking to the people who have been involved there the longest, the purebred breeding stock producers, and expanded from there. His story outlining the complexities and challenges of Chinese pork production, and what we can expect to happen with businesses there, begins on page 6.

The pressure is always on to reduce costs in pork production, so when a change in your barn can save in a couple of ways it is well worth mentioning. Want to save on water in your barn and reduce manure spreading costs? A study at the Prairie Swine Centre indicates that use of a trough with a side panel saved 60 per cent on water use compared to nipple drinkers. This could produce savings in terms of both the cost of water and the cost of spreading liquid manure afterwards. This story by researchers Alvin Alvardo and Bernardo Predicala starts on page 30.

On the income side, Ridha Chilmeran, Ontario Pork's economic analyst, looks at the effects of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea on pig markets in North America. For Chilmeran's take on the situation, go to the Second Look column on page 38. BP

ROBERT IRWIN