“In the context we are currently going through, there is certainly reason to wonder,” Minister André Lamontagne responded Thursday morning to a question from a pig breeder during a public event.
The question related to the bonuses paid by Sollio to around a hundred pig breeders at a time when all the producers are selling their production at a discount in order to save the processor Olymel, owned by Sollio.
A pig breeder from Estrie Sébastien Pagé took advantage of the visit of the Minister of Food André Lamontagne to the Strategic Forum of the federation Les Eleveurs de porcs du Québec to question him on this subject.
“I would like to know your reaction to the bonuses that were announced by Sollio and will be given to its members only with the money of all pig breeders here in Quebec? », asked Mr. Pagé at the end of the minister’s speech. The Press attended the event by videoconference.
“Two things emerge from the situation you describe,” the minister replied to Mr. Pagé. First, we see that producers are not exposed to the same risks as other producers. Two, we see that producers receive more market income than other producers. In the context we are currently experiencing, there is certainly reason to wonder. »
The Press asked the president of the Éleveurs de porcs du Québec what he took away from the minister’s response.
” When [le ministre] says that there are producers who do not have the same market risk to manage, that means that there is an inequity through this decision of the Sollio group, says Louis-Philippe Roy, 36 years old, birth producer- finisher from Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse. We all helped with the restructuring of Olymel. As president of the breeders, my role is to defend fairness between producers and this is what is being denounced in the Sollio situation. »
Olymel informed the Breeders, indicates Mr. Roy, that it was not going to make a profit in 2023. Olymel lost 390 million in total, in 2021 and 2022.
PHOTO FRANCOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Olymel, which is largely owned by Sollio, is responsible for 80% of hog slaughter in the province.
Since October 30, Sollio cooperative group and its cooperatives have increased the premium paid to breeders who are members of its network by an amount of up to $3 per pig.
Due to the crisis which is shaking both pork producers and processors, the industry agreed last April to a new marketing agreement under which the 2,500 pork producers agree to sell their animals at 85%. of the American market price. These days, that’s a discount of $18 per 100 kilos.
Olymel, which is largely owned by Sollio, is responsible for 80% of hog slaughter in the province.
“Each breeder has contributed, in the last two years, to the repositioning and then the restructuring of Olymel,” underlined Mr. Roy in an interview. We put as producer, me at home, I put $40 off, I put $25 off, $5 off; then after that, we signed an agreement which is $18 less than the province next to us, which is Ontario. The producers paid a huge price on their business. When we arrive with a bonus for a group of producers, the equity is not there,” he denounced.
The financial losses of breeders are compensated by the Agricultural Income Stabilization Insurance Program (ASRA), two-thirds of the cost of premiums of which is assumed by Quebec taxpayers. In June, Financière agricole, which administers ASRA, announced the payment of an advance of 103.7 million to pork producers. In September, 55 million more were paid to them.
Note that the hundred breeders rewarded by Sollio are entitled to the two-ball cone. These breeders receive the same ASRA compensation as other producers in addition to receiving the Sollio bonus, confirmed Mr. Roy.