A Kansas State University agricultural economist doesn't think animal welfare issues will have a significant impact on the prospects for the North American hog industry to expand.
Doctor Glynn Tonsor admits the uncertainty related to welfare and other social issues will reduce that expansion a little. But he argues it's a very small component of the broader good economic story for the industry.
Tonsor points out research and survey results indicate while the public is likely to vote in favour of either banning or limiting the use of particular production practices, they are much less likely to say they will pay a premium to do that. The economist says the animal welfare issue does super-impose some uncertainty over all facets of the industry. That's because the issue means the industry doesn't know six months from now, five years from now, twenty years from now, what the rules of the game will be.
One possibly positive side to all this, according to Tonsor, is that he feels all the major export players - Canada, the U-S and Europe - are having to deal with the same issues.
Doctor Glynn Tonsor was one of the presenters at the recent Banff Pork Seminar in Alberta.
