Ontario's high hog price, coupled with the drop in feed driven by the precipitous drop in corn price (see John Bancroft’s excellent graph below) has led to margins only dreamed of, and thought by many to never be seen again.

Now, with the combination of the lowest corn price in North America coupled with one of the most competitive market hog prices in North America, we are seeing a significant shift to SEWs and feeder pigs remaining in Ontario/Canada rather than flowing south to the US. This is demonstrated in the chart below.

Canada-EU to Close Trade Deal

While the rest of the of the world, if they were paying any to attention to Canada at all, were being entertained or dismayed by the “gong show”, that is, the ongoing sad saga of the mayor of our largest metropolis (Toronto) or the unseemly Senate expense scandal, Canada and the European Union appear to have moved ahead with a significant new trade agreement. Canadian government sources told the press that Ottawa has struck the "political framework for a deal" and has been seeking the consent of all provinces before finally agreeing to the package.

Unfortunately, with all the other political noise, specific details of the initiative are difficult to come by. It appears that this could have great significance for Canada and not least Canadian pork and beef that have gained significant access to the huge EU market.

The Canadian Dairy industry claims this all came about because Ottawa agreed to more than double the amount of European cheese that can enter Canada without steep tariffs and they’ve been “thrown under the bus”. Even if this to be completely true there is unlikely to be little if any sympathy from the Canadian Pork industry who have lived and died by export markets which have taken well over half their production for a very long time.

The Economist, whose weekly focus, as it trots around the world often doesn’t even fall on Canada. However, its October 26th issue had high praise for Canada showing the way forward in world trade with two articles. 1)Trade liberalization - Canada doesn’t get any sexier than this - A trade pact with Europe points the way to a global market in services 2)The Canada-EU trade deal - Atlantic accord - A landmark agreement could show the way for future deals.

Hopefully in the very near future we will get affirmation that it a completely done deal and all the details.