Manitoba pork producers are concerned that hog productions are insufficient to maintain two production shifts currently in place at the Maple Leaf Foods processing plant in Brandon, Manitoba, according to reports.

While Manitoba's hog production hit a peak in 2005 with 5.35 million animals, its recent decline to 4.64 million has left the plant, which processes 4.3 million hogs a year, looking for other sources.

It currently imports half its hogs from Saskatchewan, but finding other importers is tough, the article points out. American producers fetch a better price in the US., so they aren't inclined to export to Canada.

Andrew Dickson, general manager for the Manitoba Pork Council, told the Winnipeg Free Press that large plants such as the Brandon plant need two productions shifts per day in order to be commercially viable for operation. Closing the plant would render thousands jobless.

He claimed the optimal solution would be to ease restrictions on hog producers in Manitoba, to encourage domestic production. Current regulations require hog producers to invest in expensive anaerobic manure digesters, and with profits already slim at US$1 to US$2 per animal, producers are unable to put up the cash.

MPC officials are lobbying the Manitoba provincial government to allow pork producers to work with less expensive manure solutions.