Hog producers in Alberta are struggling because the cost of feed for livestock has escalated due to the drought in the U-S.

Executive Director for Alberta Pork, Darcy Fitzgerald says the ethanol policies in place in the U-S, stating that 45 percent of the corn crop goes to ethanol production, are also a factor.

"The competition between feed for animals and fuel going into ethanol has really driven the prices up," he says. "If you didn't have that ethanol issue there, I think we could work things out globally to cover off feed issues, but because we have that extra restraint now on the feed side of things, it really puts a burden back onto the livestock thing."

Fitzgerald says in Canada producers are losing about $50-60 a pig and therefore a lot of pigs going to market that normally wouldn't go.

"There are lots of producers who are already in the process of shutting down their operation and leaving the industry because they just can't stay in the business," he says. "The biggest problem is a lack of capitol. The prices are driven up for feed, the price of the pig is down and the producer doesn't have access to money to keep buying feed in the short term."

He says it's one of those things where the animals have to be fed and looked after even if the producer is losing everything in the process.  

Fitzgerald says there are about 350 hog producers in Alberta and about 15-20 percent of those producers are looking to leave the industry if they don't get support.

He says producers need a loan from the government so they have access to capitol and can continue to feed their livestock.  

"Across the country, there are about 70,000 involved and once the pig producers start to leave then so do those jobs and so does that economic growth we have."

In Canada the pork industry is about a $9 billion industry and exports about $3.2-3.3 billion in pork products around the world to about 143 different counties.