High feed costs continue to erode pork sector profitability, says Saskatchewan producer

By Bruce Cochrane, Farmscape

A partner with Polar Pork Farms says the conflict in Ukraine continues to influence feed grain prices contributing to reduced profitability for pork producers and higher food costs for consumers.

High feed costs continue to erode profitability in the agriculture sector and contribute to food inflation. Florian Possberg, a partner with Polar Pork Farms said that while market prices for hogs haven't been terrible, feed costs remain high so this is not a particularly profitable time in the pork sector.

“High feed costs seem to have been spurred on by the conflict in the Ukraine, between Russia and the Ukraine. That really threw a wrench into the whole outlook for world cereal supplies. It seems like that is kind of baked into the cake now, so to speak, and although production in the Ukraine is going to be off substantially globally, we'll hopefully get back to better growing conditions in the U.S. and South America will continue to increase their supplies. We are seeing some softening in feed grain costs. It's still historically very high, but it's not as high as it was a year ago so that's positive. The war has had quite an influence and, like I said, after a period of time the market gets used to what's happening so that's what it is,” explained Florian Possberg with Polar Pork Farms.

 With over 45 years in the pork industry, Possberg is a well-known advocate for the hog industry. Possberg has held positions on the board of Sask Pork, as well as positions with the Canadian Pork Council, and Prairie Swine Centre.

Possberg acknowledged food inflation has a real challenge, especially for low-income families. He said that he hopes the food supply generally and the pork supply specifically will be enough that it won't cause significant shortages and that the food inflation softens somewhat.

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