"The definition of 'soon' in the government's world is obviously different than it is in the producers' world," said [Karl Kynoch]. "We're getting calls from producers every day. They're trying to make decisions here and they can't."

Manitoba, the country's largest pork and hog producer, has been hit especially hard because it has a very high percentage of weanling pigs, which are almost all exported to the U.S. Manitoba accounts for 30 per cent of Canada's total hog and pork production but 60 per cent of the country's exports of live hogs.

"We're going broke here," he said. "It's horrible."