Big Sky Farms' Bankruptcy Ripples Widen
Pork news staff
| Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Canada's largest pork producer--Big Sky Farms-- filed bankruptcy last month; this month the effects are rippling through North America. The Humboldt, Saskatchewan-based producer delivers 900,000 hogs to markets and growers annually.
The provincial government of Saskatchewan is a majority owner in the business, which has complicated the company's case. Big Sky Farms has filed the Canadian equivalent of U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in which the company reorganizes its finances in order to remain in business. At the time of its filing, Big Sky Farms' secured and unsecured debt totaled $94 million (Canadian).
Among the recent results, Canadian farmers who were owed money when the company sought bankruptcy protection have demonstrated outside Big Sky operations. They are seeking repayment from the government, if not the company; meanwhile, the provincial government has referred all inquiries to the courts, according to Canadian media reports.
One concern is if the government doesn't make good on money owed to growers in the region, more bankruptcies will follow.
The case has headed into the United States where Big Sky Farms' has assets in Iowa amounting to 53,000 wean-to-finish and finishing pigs being raised on contract farms in the state. There also a processing facility in Sioux Center, Iowa.
Source: Meatingplace.com
Among the recent results, Canadian farmers who were owed money when the company sought bankruptcy protection have demonstrated outside Big Sky operations. They are seeking repayment from the government, if not the company; meanwhile, the provincial government has referred all inquiries to the courts, according to Canadian media reports.
One concern is if the government doesn't make good on money owed to growers in the region, more bankruptcies will follow.
The case has headed into the United States where Big Sky Farms' has assets in Iowa amounting to 53,000 wean-to-finish and finishing pigs being raised on contract farms in the state. There also a processing facility in Sioux Center, Iowa.
Source: Meatingplace.com
