The changing face of the pork industry
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Patterns of production and consumption have changed considerably in recent decades. Meanwhile, the industry faces challenges from porcine epidemic diarrhea, animal welfare pressures and a declining number of processing plants
by JIM DALRYMPLE
The last few decades have seen dramatic changes in the Ontario, Canadian and the global pork industry. Improved incomes in Asia and increased populations in many parts of the world have led to increased demand for pork.
In 1975, pork consumption in China was seven million tons, while total U.S. consumption was 5.4 million tons on a carcass weight basis. From 1975 to 2013, Chinese consumption grew on an annual basis of 5.7 per cent per year, while the United States grew at the rate of 1.3 per cent annually. In 2013, 54 million tons were consumed in China, compared to U.S. consumption of 8.6 million tons. Chinese consumption already accounts for 50 per cent of the world's pork consumption. As China's population increases and income levels rise, this may continue.
Europe produces about 16 per cent of global meat production. Denmark exports about 80 per cent of its production, mainly to European Union countries. Germany is Europe's leader in pork production with about 28 million pigs on farms.
Recent projections from "Global Trading and Meat Processing" (GlobalMeatNews.com) indicate that Brazil may become the world's largest producer of pork. Pork is Brazil's third-largest agricultural export. Brazil's per capita consumption is 15.6 kilograms per person, while the average in the United States and Europe is 30 kilograms.
In Ukraine, pork production has increased significantly. That country could become self-sufficient in pork by year's end. Pork imported to Ukraine from Brazil is expected to decrease dramatically.
The U.S. pork industry has seen consolidation, with greater production under the control of major companies such as Smithfield Foods. Smithfield Foods/Shuanghui International had 868,000 sows in the United States in 2013 and 1,098,000 sows in total worldwide. The five major companies in the U.S. had 1.8 million sows and the top 25 U.S. pork companies had 3.183 million sows in 2013.
Meat production worldwide totalled 66.8 kilograms per capita in 2012. In 2012, total meat consumption was up one per cent per capita. Canadian and U.S. per capita consumption is comparable.
So what are the main industry issues in 2014?
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED). This virus is decimating production in the United States and could have a dramatic impact on Canadian production and export opportunities. PED was first observed in the United States in May 2013 and by January 2014 had appeared in 23 U.S. states. It causes 100 per cent mortality in newborn pigs. Over three million pigs had been lost to PED in the United States by January 2014.
Processing industry. The processing industry in Ontario has seen a reduction in the number of small provincial plants, and the closing of Quality Meat Packers has producers wondering what the future holds for this industry. Many pork producers east of Toronto rely on short-term contracts with Olymel Packers in Quebec.
Animal welfare. Many major retailers are putting pressure on producers and processors throughout the world, demanding alternatives to gestation stalls and other production practices.
The Prairie Swine Centre at Saskatoon, in partnership with the University of Manitoba, has a study underway on sow housing. The centre has launched a national sow housing conversion project to help producers find the most cost-effective and beneficial housing for sows by utilizing a model produced at the University of Manitoba.
A study at the University of Illinois has been looking at standard gestation stalls, turn-around stalls and group-housing combinations and has found that the type of stall a pregnant sow is housed in for the first 30 days of gestation or its entire gestational period can have an impact on its immune status, behaviour and litter performance. Sows housed in standard stalls were found to have a more stimulated and adaptive immune status than those in turnaround stalls. There is still uncertainty as to the relative merits of gestation stalls and group housing of sows.
Canada's National Farm Animal Care Council has established a 17-member committee that has spent three years reviewing and establishing a new Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs. This committee had representatives from the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, pork producers, scientists, processors, veterinarians, transporters and government. This code is now completed and in use.
Pork industry re-entry. Some farms that enrolled in the Hog Farm Transition Program (HFTP) three years ago may re-enter the industry due to lower grain and oilseed prices, possibly improved pork prices and the demand for pork.
In 1971, there were 30,626 pork producers in Ontario who marketed 3,141,100 pigs. There were an average of 77 pigs per farm. In Ontario, the production units in central and eastern Ontario have decreased dramatically, with few units remaining in production with production centred in western Ontario.
The five major countries above, plus the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and Hong Kong, had a 1.3 per cent increase in Canadian imports in 2013 over 2012. The decline in value of the Canadian dollar, PED, and trade agreements may have a dramatic effect on Canada's export possibilities in 2014.
Industry support. In the past 20 to 30 years, there has been a reduction and consolidation in agribusinesses serving the pork industry with fewer pharmaceutical, feed manufacturers and farm equipment suppliers. Provincial and federal research facilities have been reduced as well as provincial and federal slaughter and processing capabilities. Extension or technology transfer capabilities of provincial governments have been reduced as well.
Up to the year 2000, Canada had five federal swine research centres – in Lethbridge/Brandon/Ottawa/Lennoxville/Nappan – but these are now reduced to one: Lennoxville, Que. The closure of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada greenbelt facility at Ottawa in the 1990s with 250 sows was significant, particularly to Ontario.
Also closed in Ontario is the Ridgetown swine research herd, which had pigs brought in for teaching purposes when needed. The University of Guelph's research swine herd, built in 1972, is now surrounded by housing developments and needs updating, likely at a new location.
Many Canadian universities do not have the number of scientists in genetics, nutrition, reproduction, swine welfare and health that they had 10 to 20 years ago.
The pork industry, like most agricultural commodity sectors, has seen dramatic changes while producing high-quality products for both domestic and export markets. The Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement and the Canadian Pork Council at the national level continue to develop programs to support the industry.
In this province, Ontario Swine Improvement, breeding stock suppliers, Ontario Pork and the Ontario Pork Industry Council (OPIC) continue to provide leadership to this important sector of Ontario's agriculture and food industry. BP
J.R. (Jim) Dalrymple is a former Ontario government swine specialist and president of Livestock Technology Services Ltd. in Brighton.
