October 15, 2004

U.S. Hog Farmers Need Canadian Swine

Two-thirds of the pigs imported from Canada are young "weanlings" and feeder pigs that support U.S. farmers. They are fattened by U.S. hog growers, are fed U.S. feed, and have enabled some smaller hog farmers to remain competitive in the face of pressures to consolidate farms.

Most hogs imported from Canada are young pigs to be fattened in the United States. Two-thirds of Canadian hogs that cross the border are baby pigs: 10 pound "weanlings" and 50 pound feeder pigs that will be raised to market weight by U.S. farmers. Before they come to market, these pigs are fattened to a weight of 260 pounds by U.S. farmers. As much as 80% of the value of the finished hogs is added in the United States. Far from harming U.S. producers, these baby pigs are a critical element of many U.S. farmers' operations. These Canadian hogs do not displace U.S. hogs - they become U.S. hogs.

The market demands large scale operations. In 1965 over 1 million U.S. farms raised hogs. Forty years later, there are fewer than 75,000 hog farms. This consolidation has been driven by the market's demand for low costs and high volume. Large hog farms ship one to three truckloads of pigs per day, and few modern packing plants can enter relationships with farmers who cannot supply at least a truckload of pigs per week. But even this smaller scale is three times the average production of a hog farm 25 years ago.

Canadian weanlings and feeders enable smaller U.S. hog farmers to remain competitive. The capital and technology required to raise pigs from birth on a large scale is beyond the reach of smaller farms. But many farmers have found that they can continue to compete by specializing on fattening ("finishing") young pigs. In many Midwestern states corn is plentiful and close at hand, and weanlings and feeder pigs can be shipped economically from Canada. This permits even smaller farmers to finish hogs in large numbers without having to invest in sophisticated sow barns or artificial insemination technology.

Canadian weanlings offer significant advantages. The cool Canadian climate and far smaller pig population combine to produce lower disease rates in the hog population - which offers significant advantages in raising baby pigs. This is shown in the productivity of Canadian sows (mother pigs), which has consistently exceeded U.S. levels for decades. Both U.S. and Canadian producers have increased their productivity dramatically since 1980, but Canada's natural advantages continue to assert themselves. On average, sows (mother pigs) in Canada in 2003 bore over 20 pigs per year, while U.S. sow productivity was under 17 per year.