Olymel plans to close six hog production facilities in Western Canada

May 30, 2023

Ongoing challenges in the pork industry, financial losses, and uncertainty in the hog and pork markets led to the decision.

Olymel announcing the closure of five sow units in Alberta (Smoky Sow/Dev, Pinnacle 1, Pinnacle 2, Dynacrest 1, and Dynacrest 2) and one in Saskatchewan (Kelsey) cutting about 17,000 sows from their operations.

Approximately 80 staff have been given their layoff notices, Olymel is working with those affected to find other positions within the company or placement outside the company.

Over the next few months, they will begin winding down operations at the barns which will remain shuttered until the market conditions improve.

The closures will result in a net reduction of about 200,000 company-owned market hogs annually to the Red Deer slaughter plant.

The full impact of the move will not be felt until 2024 at the earliest and will be subject to independent hog supply availability.

We'll have an update on the situation tomorrow with Olymel's Vice President of Swine Production for Western Canada Casey Smit.

Source : Pembinavalley online

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER AND GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to hit 10,000 subscribers, and when we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn. Sign up for exclusive access to tickets and details.