(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Olymel to shut one Quebec hog slaughter plant

New provincial hog supply agreement in works as Vallee-Jonction facility set to close

Quebec-based meat packer Olymel’s bid to stem losses in its fresh pork business now includes closing down one of its five Canadian hog slaughter plants. Olymel, the protein arm of Sollio Co-operative, announced Friday it will wind down operations at its hog slaughter, cutting and deboning plant at Vallee-Jonction, Que. and permanently close the facility […] Read more

Photo: Thinkstock

U.S. livestock: CME hog futures recover after ‘complete downhill slide’

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures ended higher on Friday as the market recovered after sliding to life-of-contract lows this week. The market was due for a bounce as losses were overdone, brokers said. “We’ve been on just about a complete downhill slide,” said Karl Setzer, brokerage research lead at Mid-Co […] Read more


Chris Neufeld, Animal Care and Biosecurity, HyLife, at left, with Karine Talbot, Director of Animal Health, HyLife talk about proper handling procedures with Dr. Temple Grandin.

A better way to handle piglets

This weaning ramp is easy on farm workers as well as on animals as they are processed

A labour-saving innovation developed by a Manitoba hog operation has been recognized with an award presented by a national pork industry conference, and endorsed by an international animal welfare expert. The HyLife weaning ramp developed at the HyLife sow farms in La Broquerie, Man. was honoured earlier this year at the Banff Pork Seminar, and […] Read more

(TourEiffel.ca)

Olymel to shut two pork processing plants

Triomphe ham, deli meat plants to close in late April

Meat packer Olymel is set to close a chapter in its acquisition history when it shuts down two Montreal-area pork further-processing plants it bought five years ago. Olymel, a division of ag co-operative Sollio, announced Wednesday it will close the former Aliments Triomphe plant at Blainville and its sister plant about 18 km southeast at […] Read more


Piglets at a hog operation in China. (KuLouKu/iStock/Getty Images)

China’s 2022 pork output highest in eight years

Average hog weights remain relatively high

Reuters — China’s pork output increased 4.6 per cent in 2022 from 2021 to reach its highest level since 2014, official data showed on Tuesday, confounding some expectations for a smaller rise. Pork output in the world’s top producer of the meat reached 55.41 million tonnes, the highest since 56.71 million tonnes recorded eight years […] Read more

Quebec hog producer Rene Roy is the new chairman of the Canadian Pork Council. (Cpc-ccp.com)

Canadian Pork Council names new top brass

Rene Roy elected as council's new chair

A few weeks after hiring a new executive director, members of the Canadian Pork Council have also chosen their new board chair and first vice-chair. The council on Tuesday announced it had elected Rene Roy, a hog producer from St-Jules in Quebec’s Beauce region, as its new board chair, and Scott Peters, a producer from […] Read more


The Banff Pork Seminar runs Jan. 10-12, 2023.

Pork producers heading to Banff

2023 seminar will be in-person with a twist

Pork producers from across the country will be heading to Banff in early January for the live, in-person 51st edition of the Banff Pork Seminar (BPS). There is still time to register for the event, which runs Jan. 10-12, 2023 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Following modified versions of the conference in recent years […] Read more

(Canyonos/iStock/Getty Images)

Olymel to exit lard business, shut plant

Packer's St. Hyacinthe facility to permanently close

Pork and poultry packer Olymel is set to close the further processing plant it operates in its home town in Quebec as it exits the lard production business. The company, an arm of ag co-operative Sollio, announced Thursday it will close its St. Jacques Street plant at St. Hyacinthe, Que. effective Feb. 10, affecting 107 […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Cybersecurity ‘incident’ hits Maple Leaf systems

Grocery firm Empire also dealing with IT grief

Some information technology (IT) systems at Canadian pork and poultry packer Maple Leaf Foods have been downed in what the company described Monday as a “cybersecurity incident.” The company said in a release Monday that it “took immediate action and engaged cybersecurity and recovery experts” when it learned of the problem, and its in-house and […] Read more

Photo: File

U.S. livestock: Lean hog, live cattle futures sag in technical moves

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures declined on Friday, with the benchmark December contract hitting a near three-week low in what appeared to be featureless technical selling, traders said. CME December hogs LHZ2 settled down 0.400 cent at 82.975 cents per lb after touching 82.825, the lowest since Oct. 17, and falling below […] Read more