The Rural Voice, 1983-04, Page 11are cautious. They're not poker players.
They don't roll the dice. They weight
the odds on their side. These people
have listened to the advice to be
cautious during these bust and boom
cycles.
There are busts and booms in the
cycle and I see another boom coming.
I'd like to leave you with a little
advice --- instead of getting bigger, get
better. Too many of us look at more
sows, and hence more pigs, as a way
to get more profit. I think we are going
to get increased production due to beef
and dairy people and cash croppers
entering the swine industry. In order to
survive, you will have to put more
animals through your buildings and
increase efficiency throughout the
whole system. You are not going to be
getting handouts, so you're going to
have to do it on your own behalf.
I see three things happening in the
future:
The size of future operations will
average 300 sows. However, I think
there are still going to be a lot of
100-150 sow operations.
The day of finishing pigs coming in
one door of the barn and going out of
the other is a dead end street. There
has to be more health control and more
competition in pork production because
we cannot compete with the U.S. corn
belt. The U.S. sets the price for hogs
and if we think we can simply put corn
into hogs and make money on it, then
we are essentially corn producers and
not hog producers.
I can see a lot of integration; breed-
ing companies and the feed companies,
the meat and slaughter industries gett-
ing into more hog production and
certainly more foreign capital.
We are going to be hit with the third
wave of technology. In the 1970's you
made money because of inflation. In
the 1980's and 90's it is going to be
technology. We haven't seen anything
yet. We are going to have to stay sharp
in order to keep up with the young
people who are growing up with com-
puters in front of them all the time. We
are on the verge of exploding techno-
logy.
I fear there are going to be outside
forces coming in on farmers. You
cannot sit within your own four walls
and do whatever you want. Don't forget
those 2000 laws being passed which
can effect you. With the lawyers, the
animal welfarists and the environmen-
talists throwing things at you, you are
going to have to work together. And
that's why you cannot let your county
pork producers association or the
O.P.P.M.B. do your thinking for you.
You are going to have to get involved,
get moving and get thinking to survive.
You have to pull together and work as a
group. The ball Is in your court. ❑
W.G. HAYTER
in VARNA
CERTIFIED SENTINEL
OAT SEED
FOR SALE
We are paying top prices
for feed grain
519-482-7172 Bus.
519-236-4171 Res.
THE RURAL VOICE, APRIL 1983 PG. 9