The discovery of a single beef animal with foot and mouth in Brazil has caused a serious problem for pork producers as well. Hog prices plummeted 15% in Brazil as Russia closed out all its imports from that country. The demand shift to other sources of supply has seen our North American prices climb to $1.85/kg for several weeks despite record numbers of hogs coming to slaughter in the US. At the Growing Alberta luncheon at which Michael McCain was keynote speaker, Mr. McCain stated that his Maple Leaf Foods Company has warned the Federal and Provincial governments in Canada that a similar event here would cause chaos in our livestock industry. His suggestion for health zoning in Canada, at a minimum East and West (MB eastern border), is an absolute requirement to ensure that the discovery of a named disease in one of our herds doesn’t impact the whole country in terms of livestock production and protein exports.

Rev. Rob Brown, writing in the Western Producer had this to say about the state of agriculture today: "Farmers make up 3% of our population. Ironically, while Canadian farmers help feed the world, they often come close to starving their own families in the process, something that needs to change. Food security and freedom from hunger are generally assumed in Canada. In a world where many people pay 80% of what they earn for food, Canadians pay less than 20% but often complain about that."

Hogs marketed to OLYMEL by Bloomsbury Farms at the end of August showed excellent grading results. The 53 head averaged 93.7 kg and 112.3 index from carcasses with 16.5 mm backfat and 62.5 mm loin depths. Average lean incentive paid $1.42/hog.

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A load of 137 hogs from Bloomsbury Farms averaged 64.0 mm lean at OLYMEL Red Deer. A five-year delivery contract has been offered.

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