Land and water to determine Canada's role in pork production

A Toronto-based agri-food consultant suggests the availability of land and water will be among the key factors that will conclude Canada's future role in the global pork industry.

With the exception of China the global pork industry has been shrinking lately as the result of losses fueled primarily by escalating feed costs.

According to Ted Bilyea, with Ted Bilyea and Associates, Western Canada is in a position where it has a hog industry that is essentially using the grain which is downgraded by mother nature every year that cannot be sold easily into human consumption then the hog is doing its thing it was put on this earth to do which is to recycle and play that role.

Bilyea says that it would not be feasible to expect meat sales if the country has to import corn or other feed grains to raise hogs.

He notes that it would be very costly and less than sustainable to import grain to raise these animals.

He says, although the Canadian pork industry has had a difficult time recently, it has two key structural advantages - water and land - and several smaller ones but those advantages have been overwhelmed lately by the other short term issues.

However he's confident those issues eventually being overcome.