Supporting Beef and Hog Farmers

Providing up to $10 million in emergency funding to help cover processing impacts and increased costs caused by COVID-19

Our PC government continues to take decisive action to support the agri-food sector in keeping our food supply chain strong as we continue to combat COVID-19.

To that end, our government today announced it is working with the Government of Canada to support Ontario’s beef and hog farmers by providing up to $10 million in emergency funding. This funding will help cover increased costs of feeding market-ready cattle and hogs due to processing capacity interruptions caused by COVID-19, while redirecting surplus pork products to help those in need.

The beef cattle set-aside program will provide beef farmers with up to $5 million in support. Farmers can claim $2 per head of cattle per day to help pay for additional maintenance costs should they have to keep their market-ready animals on their farms for extended periods of time.

The hog sector support program will also provide hog farmers with up to $5 million to help cover additional maintenance costs from producers who have participated in alternate feeding programs. Additionally, Ontario is providing up to $1.5 million to process and package surplus pork for food banks, to provide those in need with fresh, locally produced pork products.

These support programs are being offered through AgriRecovery initiatives, under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Both the beef cattle set-aside and hog sector support program are the latest in a series of investments to support Ontario’s agri-food sector, helping to ensure that Ontarians can continue to rely on a steady and safe food supply chain.