Sask pork has approved an increase in the levy charged on pigs produced in Saskatchewan.
Yesterday, as part of its 2014 annual general meeting, the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board approved an increase in the levy collected on market hogs and breeding stock produced in Saskatchewan from 75 cents per head to 85 cents and on feeder pigs and early weans from 20 cents per head to 23 cents.
Sask Pork chair Florian Possberg says the change will not only increase the amount of money available to fund provincial initiatives, it will also allow Canada to introduce a higher levy on pork imported into Canada.
Florian Possberg-Saskatchewan Pork Development Board:
Saskatchewan Pork has the lowest levy on hogs and early weans that any province has in Canada.
We, at a national level, are initiating collecting a levy on imported pork which we currently pay as Canadians when we export to the U.S.
As a matter of fairness and for meeting the needs of our research needs and health needs and other things, we thought it was only fair we would collect on imported pork as well.
The most we can collect is based on the lowest level of check-off in any particular province.
Saskatchewan was below any other province so, by increasing our levy, we really increase our ability to collect on imported product as well.
Possberg says once in place the levy on imported pork will be collected on some 200,000 tonnes of pork coming into Canada bringing in excess of $1,500,000 per year for use in national programming.
He says the increase in the Saskatchewan levy will take effect January 1 and the hope is to see the new levy on imported pork take effect sometime in 2015.
Source: Farmscape