Skip to main content

Keystone Agricultural Producers president Doug Chorney says the situation is so bad that farmers are selling their breeding animals because they can’t afford to feed them.JOHN WOODS/The Globe and Mail

A Manitoba farm group is calling for $130-million in government loan guarantees to help producers deal with what it calls the worst crisis in the history of Canada's pork industry.

Keystone Agricultural Producers says a combination of high feed costs and low prices is forcing producers out of business.

President Doug Chorney says the situation is so bad that farmers are selling off their breeding animals because they can't afford to feed them.

He says the recent decision by Puratone Corp., one of Manitoba's largest hog producers to seek creditor protection, is not an isolated incident.

Mr. Chorney warns that family farms will be lost and hundreds of people could lose their jobs in related industries unless Ottawa and the province intervene immediately.

He says pork producers in other provinces are facing the same financial distress.

Interact with The Globe