The General Manager of Manitoba Pork suggests, while there's room for pork producers to be optimistic heading into 2026, that optimism is being tempered by tariff threats and global political uncertainty. An article circulated through Manitoba newspapers and posted to the Manitoba Pork web site recaps 2025 and looks forward to 2026.
Manitoba Pork General Manager Can Dahl observes, on the positive side we did see profitability in 2025 due to strong demand for both pigs and pork, especially for isowean pigs due to disease pressure in the U.S. and reasonable feed costs but on the flip side of the coin we're seeing significant international market volatility and an uncertain relationship with the U.S. due to factors such as tariff threats, California’s Proposition 12 and Country of Origin Labelling, as well as tariffs on pork going into China and the EU's blocking of Canadian pork.
Quote-Can Dahl-Manitoba Pork:
I still do see a very strong demand for Canadian pork for a number of reasons.Again, I had mentioned things like disease pressure. We see disease pressure in the United States but we also see African Swine Fever having an impact on markets. As well affordability has become top of mind for consumers around the world.