Pork producers could soon have access to production insurance on their animals. The province confirmed plans to create insurance programs for swine, cattle and bees as part of the throne speech this week.

"This would be similar to crop insurance. The thing that came out of the throne speech is that the government is committed to moving forward, exploring opportunities to bring some type of production insurance to producers," says Karl Kynoch, chair of the Manitoba Pork Council. "We've been working with the government lately. As a council we've also been working with a company in England looking at some alternatives and scenarios for production insurance. Right now, we're just in the very early stages of it."

"There is a lot of interest out there. The big thing is what the package looks like at the end of the day, and how it's offered up. Producers will have to see how it fits into their numbers at that time," he says.

The Council hopes a program could be in place by next summer.

~ Thursday, November 18, 2010 ~