Labor shortage and the rising Canadian dollar are concerns in the hog industry and have brought about the idea of contract finishing and contracting out manure. Upon analysis, Western Canada should be able to slaughter 1 to 2 million more pigs per year for the next three years with the planned construction of packing plants in Saskatoon and Winnipeg. Higher prices for finished hogs in the U.S., a shortage of Western Canadian slaughter capacity, and an arguable advantage in the U.S. contract finishing cost of production appear to be the reason for increases live exports. This trend will continue if Canadian packing plants cannot offer competitive prices. The general consensus among several large-scale producers is that yes, the U.S. can and will offer better prices over the next few years. Factors that influence the desire to slaughter in Western Canada includes increased slaughter capacity, enough pigs being finished to warrant a double-shift, and low feed costs. The most negative factor was the exchange rate. Contracting finisher barns usually involves the hog owners providing everything necessary for the pigs, but sometimes the barn owner will provide the labor. A 20-year economic model was created for a 2400 capacity finisher operation with earthen manure storage (EMS) and four 2400 finisher capacity operations without EMS. The single 2400 unit produces 1,638,120 gallons of manure per year. Given that the manure is spread on the land once every 3 years, a total of 819.15 acres are needed within close proximity, approximately 2 miles from the barn (the 9600 head unit requires 3,276.24 acres!). Hauling the manure extra distances would add numerous complicated costs to the model.