Ontario hog production up in 2011, producers down

In 2011, 1,700 Ontario pig meat producers marketed 4.8 million hogs, up 6 percent from 2010 numbers, according to Ontario Pork's 2011 Pork Industry Profile. The industry is doing more with less, however, as producer numbers have continually declined, down over 90 percent from the highest number of more than 200 producers in 1979. There are fewer than half as many pork producers now as there were 10 years ago, according to the report, but Ontario's pork industry contributed $5.6 billion from "farm to fork" to the provincial economy in 2011. The total value of sales for market hogs in 2011 was $814.2 million, up $151.1 million (22.8 percent) from 2010 numbers. Ontario’s share of the North American hog market was 3.2 percent in 2011. The province exported approximately 700,000 pigs weighing less than 50 kg to the U.S. in 2011. From January to December 2011, Canada imported 205.2 million kg of pork, up 11.9 percent from 2010. From January to October, the country exported 944.3 million kg of pork, up 3.4 percent from 2010. The U.S. and Japan are Ontario's major pork export markets, with 27 percent going to the U.S. and 19 percent to Japan. Russia, South Korea and China rounded out the top five export markets in 2011.