Hog farmers are now facing a tough decision — take a long-term loan and restructure or shut the farm down.
The federal government is offering a 75-million dollar buy-out or long-term loans for those who want to stay in the business.
Chair of Ontario Pork Wilma Jeffray, whose farm is also located in Bruce County, says every hog farmer is going to have to do some soul-searching about what option they want to take.
She says it depends on their age, the longevity of their career and their debt load and take a good hard look at what the government is offering to make a decision about their farms.
Jeffray says the assistance that hog farmers are receiving is very restrictive because of how trade-oriented the industry is.
She says the United States is watching Canada very closely after this buy-out because they’re worried about the federal government helping out the farmers, as the industry is heavily reliant on exports.
Jeffray says farmers originally asked for an 800-million dollar hand-up from the government on a per-hog payment, but she says trade considerations won’t allow that.
The industry has been hammered in recent months by a strong Canadian dollar, high feed prices, new country of origin labelling laws and the fallout from the H1N1 flu virus.
