Manitoba Pork is commenting on the Olymel plant closure in Red Deer, Alberta.
Grant Melnychuk is acting general manager.
"We're hopeful that plants such as the Maple Leaf Plant in Brandon or the HyLife Plant in Neepawa could eventually accept some of the pigs that were destined for Olymel in Red Deer. Likewise, some of the other smaller plants in Western Canada...We're hopeful also that there will alternatives for the ones that can't be accommodated in Western Canada, whether it's being sent down to the U.S. plants for processing.
He says very few hogs are shipped to Olymel from Manitoba, however there are some that go from the western part of the province.
Melnychuk talked about the impact on pork producers.
"It's a very tightly calibrated supply chain. Producers, they don't really have the options that some other sectors do. If there's a market disruption with beef, they can put their cattle out to graze, grain farmers can store their crops in bins. If there is a break in the hog supply chain, it certainly doesn't take long for things to get very serious on the farms."
Melnychuk says Maple Leaf and HyLife are running at high capacity, noting that some additional infrastructure would need to be put in place to accommodate more animals.
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