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$1.3-Million for Promoting Canadian Swine

Exporting Canadian pigs, and swine genetics was the subject of a funding announcement in Oxford County today. The federal government is investing 1.3-million dollars to allow the Canadian Swine Exporters Association to continue to open up foreign markets. The announcement was made at "Ontario Swine Improvement", near Innerkip, where the latest in swine genetics allows Canadian pork to be shared worldwide. Pierre Lemieux is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Agriculture Minister explains how the money will be used to promote the Canadian brand. "We have an excellent quality when it comes to breeding and genetics. And through the Swine Exporters Association, they will use this money to be physically present in some of these countries, at international trade shows to promote our swine genetics." The Canadian Swine Exporters Association has been able to produce deals with South Korea, China, Brazil, and other countries that have helped to boost the price of pork. Executive Director of CSEA, Rosemary Smart, says Canadian pigs are well regarded worldwide. "It's our high health status, the biosecurity that we maintain, strict regulations in the barns and the uniformity of our pigs. They're all basically the same size, the loins are all the same size, the length of the loin, the number of pork chops you can get is all basically the same." In the end, a higher price helps support the local farmer. Growing export markets has helped the swine industry out of a price slump that threatened many farmers a couple of years ago. Today, prices in Canada are back to a sustainable level.

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