Farmscape for April 23, 2008  (Episode 2823)

Saskatchewan's agriculture minister says plans to provide pork to the province's food banks from animals culled under a national cull breeding swine program is a clear example of turning a negative into a positive.

Last week the province of Saskatchewan announced it will provide 440 thousand dollars to cover the cost of processing hogs slaughtered in Saskatchewan under the Federal Cull Breeding Swine Program.

Under the program hog producers are eligible to receive 225 dollars per culled breeding animal but meat from those animals is not allowed to enter the commercial food chain.

Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud says by diverting that meat to the province's food banks it will be put to a very good use.

Clip-Bob Bjornerud-Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister

There's a number of groups that have helped to make this really happen.

The first is Sask Pork and we really appreciate the work that all these groups have done.

Sask Pork is going to coordinate the project and they're administering the dollars that we've put in.

They're currently working with processors out there to find plants that will do the cutting and wrapping and all that work for us.

They'll also be working with the food banks to ensure the product gets to needy families in Saskatchewan and that's part of the good work that the food banks do.

There's also, Jay's Trucking is one of the private businesses that are out there right now that are going to haul a lot of this product for less than cost.

We really appreciate that and I think there will be other businesses probably come on board as the program gets set up here.

I think that's what we're looking for at this time.

Anything we can do to help speed this process up but make it work efficiently.

The bottom line is getting the meat to the needy out there now and the food banks are going to make that happen.

The province's food banks are expected to receive about 700 thousand pounds of pork worth an estimated two million dollars through this project, enough to last about a year.

Bjornerud says while the province's hog producers have been hard hit they have been able to take a negative situation and make it positive.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council