Olymel will be able to move forward with its strategy aimed at reducing its slaughtering activities. The Régie des Marchés Agricoles et Alimentaires du Québec (RMAAQ) issued a decision on Thursday allowing the company to reduce its purchases by 10,000 Quebec hogs each week and 15,000 from Ontario.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
The Éleveurs de porcs du Québec did not react publicly following this announcement. The president of the organization, David Duval, however, sent a letter to its members. “Les Eleveurs take note of the RMAAQ’s decision and will, in the next few hours, analyze the various options for the rest of things,” he wrote. We will inform you of these orientations as they are ratified by the various authorities. Although we were able to save 220,000 pigs out of the 750,000 announced, this decision has shaken many of us. As we have mentioned since Olymel’s notice of October 22, the priority at the center of all our representations is that all Quebec breeders be treated fairly in the face of a reduction in slaughter. Our goal will remain fairness for all of us. »
In October 2021, Olymel announced its intention to cease its slaughtering activities at its Princeville plant in the spring in order to be able to devote itself to cutting.
Due to a glaring lack of manpower, it had to redefine the tasks of its employees, which meant that it would lack the resources to continue the slaughter, it was then explained.
Originally, Olymel wanted instead to reduce its purchases by 15,000 head per week in Quebec, and 10,000 in Ontario. A situation then denounced by Quebec breeders, who wanted the company to favor local producers. In its decision, however, the Régie reversed the number of fewer hogs from each province by authorizing a reduction of 10,000 in Quebec and 15,000 in our neighbours.
“We have always respected the decisions of the Régie des marchés agricole,” said Paul Beauchamp, first vice-president of Olymel. Opinions have been given. It was not our initial choice, but we are able to live with it. »
Contracts to respect
Why not stop buying hogs in Ontario to favor Quebec breeders? “We have suppliers from Ontario with whom we have long-standing contractual relations, contracts that are ongoing, which cannot be terminated just like that,” explains Olymel’s first vice-president. In Quebec, we are not the ones who will decide who will no longer deliver to Olymel. Rather, it is the pig farmers who will make the decisions, under the Swine Marketing Agreement. They have until February 22 to do so.
This slowdown in slaughter is expected to begin in March. Impossible for the moment to know the duration of this new regime. “We don’t do it with a short-term horizon,” says Mr. Beauchamp bluntly.
It is a choice, there is no manpower. And beyond the workforce, there are a series of economic factors that led us to make the decision. All the parameters must be interesting for us to consider the possibility of increasing again [les activités d’abattage].
Paul Beauchamp, first vice-president of Olymel
At the start of the year, there were some 200,000 hogs waiting in Quebec. It remains to be seen what the effects of these slaughter reductions will be. “Pig farmers should be able to do as well as Olymel did,” says Mr. Beauchamp. We got busy [des porcs en attente] over the last few weeks, months, years. We have sold some, pigs, outside Quebec. For that volume, it is no longer up to Olymel to be responsible. Olymel is not the player who helps everyone out. We have rights under the Convention, we could reduce our level of slaughter. »