A pork producer from central Alberta says the industry is in crisis, after he was paid $14 for a 700-pound boar — or two cents a pound.

Consumers will end up paying $1,500 once that boar is processed into sausage and other products, said Dale Fankhanel, a hog farmer in Ferintosh, Alta., about 100 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.

Even worse, Fankhanel's final payment was cut to $2.34 after $10.60 for trucking and $1.06 in levies were deducted to the Alberta Pork Producers Development Corp.

'I don't care if they care about me. But they should care about the price of food.'—Dale Fankhanel, hog farmer

"The packers are buying all this meat dirt cheap from producers and the packers and the retailers are taking all the money," Fankhanel told CBC News on Thursday.

In 44 years of ups and downs in the industry, the farmer said he's never seen it this bad.

He said he sold 10 feeder pigs last week for an average of 16 cents a pound and five sows for about 11 cents a pound, while bacon and pork chops sell in grocery stores for about $5 per pound.

If producers like him are getting low prices for pork, Fankhanel said, consumers should be paying lower prices in the supermarket.

"I don't care if they care about me. But they should care about the price of food and where it comes from and who's going to be raising it for them," Fankhanel said.

"They should look at their price at the store, and they should be joining with us and say, 'Let's look at this thing, let's see who's taking the money. Where's all the money going?' "

Industry hit by high labour, fuel costs

The packers contacted by CBC had no official comment.

But Paul Hodgman, executive director of Alberta Pork, said retailers and packers are facing high labour and fuel costs and a high Canadian dollar that's hurting exports.
 
"We have an industry that's in serious trouble," he said. "There's going to be some significant reduction in pork producer numbers and in total numbers of animals."

Fankhanel is selling off his pigs as quickly as possible to avoid more losses, which he estimates could reach $15,000.