P.E.I. orders struggling hog plant to repay $1.5M loan

Prince Edward Island's hog processing plant has until January 21 to pay back the $1.5 million loan it received a year ago, or it could be forced to close, CBC News has learned.

The province's lending agency called in the loan on Friday, giving the Natural and Organic Food Group plant 10 days to repay the money.

The struggling Charlottetown plant had been using the money for day-to-day operations.

CBC News has also learned that the company is now having troubling paying farmers who are delivering hogs to the plant. The government has agreed to guarantee that farmers who deliver hogs within the next two weeks will be paid.

The hog plant's latest financial woes come after a difficult month. 

In December, plant owners announced they were closing the plant because the government had refused their request for an additional $2 million operating loan.

Hours later, the government announced it would step in and put the plant into receivership — a form of bankruptcy in which a company can avoid liquidation by reorganizing with the help of a court-appointed trustee.

But the government backed away from getting involved when plant owners decided to keep operations running.