Genesus, overview of world markets. Canada. June 2023

The financial difficulties facing the Canadian pig industry have had a big impact on meat processors as well. Back in April, Olymel announced the closure of a slaughterhouse in Vallee-Jonchin, Quebec. This happened after they announced the closure of four more slaughter and processing enterprises. Last year, Olymel talked about plans to reduce their slaughtering capacity by 1.5 million pigs per year, which further narrowed the options for Canadian pig producers to sell their pigs. Les Éleveurs de porcs du Québec (Federation of Pork Producers of Quebec) has announced plans to provide a voluntary release to pig farmers who are willing to give up pork production for at least five years, with the goal of reducing Quebec's marketable pig production by one million. heads. The closure of slaughter and processing facilities has meant that more producers are forced to ship their slaughter pigs to the United States as other meat processors in Canada are already operating at full capacity and cannot accommodate more pigs. As many Canadian producers struggle to sell their pigs as quickly as possible, this buyout offer from the union will likely see many pig farmers go out of business.

Now, when our industry continues to experience difficulties, and the age of many producers is either close to retirement or already retired, they involuntarily wonder why they should continue to be involved in pig production. They cannot be blamed for anything, the Canadian pig industry has been bringing nothing but losses for many years in a row. Losses grow, and desire and will fade away. And this is inevitable. For many who intend to continue working in the pig industry, the question is what needs to be done to make it better? What new level should our industry reach in order for future generations to want to work in it? We all know very well that there has always been and will always be a cycle in the production of pigs - that is, there are periods of losses and there are periods of profitability. Nevertheless, we should not talk about continuous financial losses for many years in a row. For more than 20 years, we have not changed the level of demand for pork. Why? Overall meat consumption has increased, but people have not eaten more pork. Instead of focusing on the latest “sustainability” trend, perhaps our industry groups should look at what actually contributes to self-sufficiency and sustainability, as only this direction has a real future. Sustainability won't matter if we continue down the path of producing monstrous tasting pork. perhaps our industry groups should look at what actually contributes to self-sufficiency and sustainability, as only this direction has a real future. Sustainability won't matter if we continue down the path of producing monstrous tasting pork. perhaps our industry groups should look at what actually contributes to self-sufficiency and sustainability, as only this direction has a real future. Sustainability won't matter if we continue down the path of producing monstrous tasting pork.Research shows that consumers consider taste as the main driving factor, only in this case they make a purchase decision and continue to buy a product. With the cycle of pig production, we will always have more losses than wins if we do not move to produce a product with a better taste. The saying comes to mind: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” We need to keep a close eye on what we as an industry produce and make the necessary changes to save it.

Please take a look at last week's photo below of pork from Duroc Genesus boar.- Genesus Red Duroc and Genesus F-1 sows (full Genesus production program). It looks like beef . Phenomenal taste. I bet most consumers are willing to pay a little more for a pork that looks like this photo and they would clearly prefer it to that whitish-yellowish something we all usually see in the grocery store and know that if we buy and eat it we get nothing but disappointment. The pork in the photo below is what we've been doing at Genesus for over 25 years, it's what we believe in as a company and invest resources to get better. Someday this industry will realize that producing better tasting pork is a good idea, I just really hope it happens in my lifetime.