Farmers May Cull 130,000 Hogs as Quebec Strike Halts Pork Plant
- Strike at Olymel Quebec slaughterhouse worsens backlog
- Sending hogs to U.S., West not enough as barns fill up
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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Farmers may have to euthanize and dispose of more than 130,000 hogs in eastern Canada as a months-long strike at a pork processor leaves a backlog of animals.
Olymel’s processing facility in Vallee-Jonction, Quebec, which usually slaughters 36,000 hogs each week, has been shut since April 28, when employees walked out. The company has been sending some of the animals to the U.S. and western Canada, an alternative that still leaves 15,000 pigs behind every week, according to David Duval, the president of the Eleveurs de porcs du Quebec, which represents the province’s producers.