New HyLife feedmill brings more bacon to Killarney

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This article was published 02/08/2018 (2655 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HyLife Foods has expanded its presence in Killarney with a $28-million feedmill, and has begun construction on four new hog barns.

The moves add about 30 new jobs directly to the community, not including economic spinoffs for other sectors such as agriculture and transportation.

“In a community our size, that’s a pretty big bump,” said Rick Pauls, Mayor of Killarney-Turtle Mountain Municipality, which has a population of about 3,600.

It brings HyLife’s total employment in Killarney to approximately 110, making it the area’s largest private employer. HyLife first set up operations in Killarney around 15 years ago.

HyLife president Claude Vielfaure said it was sourcing more and more of its feed from other companies to support its growing hog-processing plant in Neepawa.

So, two years ago, HyLife opened a feedmill in Randolph in southeastern Manitoba, near La Broquerie, where the company is based. Its Killarney feedmill, which opened in July and will process 250,000 tonnes of feed per year, will serve its needs on the west side of the province.

“With that, we’re able to fully make all the feed we need for our pigs,” Vielfaure said.

It also allows the company to use the same recipe for feed for all its hogs. The plant will be buying corn, barley, wheat and soybeans to mash into pellets, the most efficient form of porcine feed.

HyLife produces high-grade pork for a market that’s willing to pay premium prices for their product. That’s why Japan continues to be its largest market, followed by China, Korea and Mexico. North America is more price-conscious, and comprises its fifth-largest market.

“For us, as a smaller producer than Maple Leaf or U.S. counterparts, we’ve tried to distinguish ourselves on quality,” Vielfaure said.

HyLife entered a partnership in 2012 that saw Japanese investors take over 49 per cent of the company.

“We were looking for a strategic partner. They’ve opened some doors for us in Japan, so it’s been very good,” Vielfaure said.

HyLife was founded in 1994 in a partnership between Vielfaure brothers Paul, Denis and Claude, and Don Janzen. It purchased an existing hog-processing plant in Neepawa in 2008 and has expanded it, most recently this spring with the addition of a new $140-million kill floor.

In 2011, it changed its name from HyTek to HyLife. It has 1,300 employees in Neepawa and 2,000 employees across the country.

Pauls said construction of the HyLife feedmill in Killarney was not contingent on approval of its four new hog barns, which brings HyLife’s total in the area to 21 barns. In addition, HyLife has an administrative office in the town.

The feedmill project was approved first, and the four hog barns came later, Pauls said. There was opposition to the four new hog barns, but they eventually made the grade.

The feedmill, which opened last month, brings with it 20 jobs, and the hog barns will add 10 more, in addition to the jobs created during construction.

Vielfaure said the provincial government’s initiative to reduce bureaucratic red tape “has opened the door a little bit for us” to build new hog barns. The barns will house around 10,000 hogs each.

Pauls said the feedmill is the largest capital investment in the community since three inland grain terminals were built about 15 years ago. Two of those terminals are owned by Richardson International, and the third by Paterson Grain. Like HyLife, all are Manitoba-based companies.

Killarney, about 225 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, is a blend of farm economy and resort community, with its Killarney Lake and cottage development around the lake. The lake has been plagued by a blue algae problem over the years that is currently being addressed with an aeration system.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca