OTTAWA—Hundreds of millions in lost revenue. Looming insolvencies. Farmers forced to euthanize piglets and give abortions to pregnant sows.

Those are some of the dangers the coronavirus pandemic is creating for Canada’s cattle and hog farmers, industry representatives told the House of Commons finance committee by video-conference on Thursday.

These farmers sell pigs and cows to slaughterhouses that have slowed operations and in some cases shut down after workers contracted COVID-19, while future prices for cattle and pork have also dropped with the overall collapse of the global economy, they said.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Canadian Pork Council are forecasting losses of roughly $500 million to their respective sectors in the coming months, and called on Ottawa to provide industry-specific aid that goes beyond the emergency business assistance the Liberal government has announced so far.

“COVID-19 has put the pork sector in a free fall,” said Rick Bergmann, chair of the Canadian Pork Council, describing how supply chains have been disrupted and have driven down the price farmers can get for their hogs. He warned some farmers are now facing a “cash crisis” and soon won’t be able to cover the costs of their businesses, with farmers in Manitoba aborting sows and euthanizing piglets because of processing backlogs.

“It’s a significant crisis and … without our government’s help, the future of the pork family farm is looking very, very bleak,” Bergmann said.

Rob Lowe, president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, said cattle ranchers are carrying heavy costs of backlogs cause by COVID-19 outbreaks at the two industrial slaughterhouses in Alberta that handle the majority of Canada’s beef processing. On Monday, the Cargill plant in High River shut down — with no scheduled date of return — after Alberta health authorities said more than 400 workers contracted the virus, while the JBS facility in Brooks, Alta. continues operating under increased safety protocols as dozens of employees were infected.

“We cannot take the current challenges lightly, and they must be addressed urgently,” Lowe told the committee. “The scale of the impact is daunting.”

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau was not available for an interview until next week, her office said. A spokesperson also declined Thursday to speak on the record about whether the government is considering sector-specific aid for agriculture industries.

The government has already increased the lending capacity of Farm Credit Canada and extended the deadline for farmers to apply for “agri-stability” payments that help cover unexpected losses.

Michael Chong, a Conservative MP from Ontario, said he wrote to Bibeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau in early March to push for what the cattle industry calls a “set aside” program that would see government cover the costs ranchers incur by maintaining large herds of cattle during a slaughterhouse backlog.

Ranchers were already experiencing backlogs before the pandemic, Chong said, pointing to how slaughterhouses in Toronto — including the Ryding-Regency Meat Packers plant — were shuttered by federal inspectors last year. Diplomatic disputes with China and Saudi Arabia have also chipped away at beef exports, Chong said.

About six weeks after he sent his letter, Chong said there has still been no response from government ministers. “The government needs to hear the plea of beef farmers and take immediate action,” he said.

The cattle and pork associations also told MPs Thursday that Ottawa’s emergency loan program for businesses — which offers $40,000 loans that are interest-free for a year — is too small to help players in their high-cost industry.

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Liberal MP Wayne Easter appeared amenable to the argument after Bergmann said he gave away 800 piglets this week that he could have normally sold for about $32,000.

“It isn’t even a drop in the bucket when you look at those numbers,” Easter said of the federal loan program.