Ontario Pork starts collecting fees on out of province weaner sales

Thursday, May 23, 2013

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

Beginning this month, producers who ship weanling pigs to out-of-province buyers must pay 20 cents per animal to Ontario Pork.

The notice of the fee was published Wednesday in the Canada Gazette. Jim Weir, Ontario Pork’s divisional manager of finance and administration, says the fee actually took effect April 30.

“We’re engaging brokers and producers who are shipping direct” to collect the fees, Weir says.

The 20-cent fee only applies to pigs weighing less than 56 kilograms shipped out of province.

Within Ontario, the marketing board already charges a market hog fee of $1. “So we’re not looking to charge the same hog twice,” Weir says. The $1 fee also applies to all pigs greater than 56 kgs marketed to an out-of-province buyer.

Weir notes the board gained the ability to collect fees on all classes of pigs when it restructured more than two years ago. He says he did not have a firm idea of how much revenue the new fee would generate.

“We have done some early estimates; until we have a good feel under our belt I’ll hold back on saying what we think might come,” he says.

The revenue will be applied to its share of the costs of delivering Ontario Pork’s universal services, he says. In 2012, the marketing board derived $4,982,639 in revenue from its market hog check-off fee. BF

Update 9:12 a.m. Wednesay May 23, 2013

Weir says the board will assess the impact of the weanling fee against the market hog fee "because their intent is not to generate income but for this to be revenue neutral." BF