Canadian pork producers are worried that a virus affecting young pigs in the U.S. could affect the Canadian supply as well as drive up the cost of pork.
The disease (porcine epidemic diarrhea), which is passed on by fecal oral transmission, has spread to farms in 22 U.S. states.
The Canadian farmers are worried the trucks carrying Canadian hogs to the U.S. will return with the disease. “We want to make sure trucks coming back to Canada that have been near American pigs are washed, disinfected and properly dried before returning to a Canadian hog farm.” said Darcy Fitzgerald of the Alberta Pork Producers as quoted by CBC News.
In addition, there are worries foodservice operators and consumers will be paying more for pork products in the spring and fall due to supply shortages. Pork futures in the U.S. have almost doubled, in some cases, since December.
