The federal government will pay Canada's struggling pork producers $50 million to kill off 150,000 pigs by the fall — 10 per cent of the industry's breeding herd.

The animals are to be destroyed at slaughter plants and on pig farms in what experts are calling an unprecedented cull.

The Canadian Pork Council said the cull will help balance supply and demand for the industry, which has seen prices drop to pennies per pound.

The program is being funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and delivered by the council.

Producers who accept federal compensation must agree to cull all of the pigs in a breeding barn and not restock for three years.

Martin Rice, spokesman for the council, said the industry has also been hit hard by rising feed costs, the high value of the loonie and new country-of-origin labelling rules for meat products that are to go into effect in the United States this year.

The vast majority of the meat from the cull will be used for pet food or disposed of, although a small percentage will go to food banks, said the council.

There are about 10,000 pork producers in Canada — mainly in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.