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The Rural Voice, 1983-04, Page 71PERTH COUNTY PORK PRODUCERS' NEWS One of the big events in the pork industry is the O.P.P.M.B. annual meeting. This year's meeting is on March 16 and 17 and will be over by the time you read this. The councilmen who go to the annual meeting to represent the producers in their counties are the Directors for the county pork producers associations. Around the first of March, the council- men receive from the O.P. P.M.B. the annual report, an agenda, information on how to get to the hotel and check in, plus the item that everybody reads first, a copy of the resolutions to be discussed and voted on at the meeting. It is through these resolutions, which come from the "grass roots", that producers give initiative and direction to Board policy and undertakings. Mr. Glenn Agnew, Secretary of the Board, reports that "the 1982 resolu- tions led to a record amount of work for the Board. A special committee was set up to investigate hedging and forward contracting and sub -committees dealt with questions of financial management and producer education." To give you an example of what other concerns were discussed at last year's meeting, one well thought out resolu- tion was the following: "Be it resolved that the O.P.P.M.B. undertake an expanded effort to promote new product development and market research in co-ordina- tion with industry, with the intent to not only maintain consumption levels but increase them." The board reports what action was taken: "The O.P.P.M.B.'s TV advertising program this year focused on show- ing consumers new ways of using pork. As well, the Board commis- sioned Redma Consultants of Toron- to to do a study of export potential in Central and South America, and was instrumental in having the Ca- nadian Pork Council reactivate its Export Co-ordination Committee. The Board also participated in a special pork trade mission in Japan in January." Obviously, all this action did not result directly from that single resolu- tion. But this resolution along with two others dealing with obtaining larger markets, did show the Board the pro- ducers' concern about the size and stability of our markets. It is important that this concern be continually regis- tered with the Board in order to keep complacency from creeping in. PG. 68 THE RURAL VOICE, APRIL 1983 No fewer than six resolutions dealt with different aspects of the stabili- zation programs of the federal and provincial governments. It is concerns voiced in resolutions like these that help give the Board the authority and power to assert their positions when dealing with the federal and provincial politicians on matters of stabilization. Another example of this was the unanimous backing of a resolution supporting the Board's stand against the federal government's imposition of carcass grading and inspection fees. The Board reports: "Mr. Whelan post- poned the attempt to collect grading fees in the face of producer and public pressure. He said that a committee would be set up to consider implement- ing the cost recovery program in 1983, but so far the government has not taken any action on the matter". What resolutions are on the books for this year's annual meeting? So far 19 resolutions have been submitted. One of the more important ones is backed by no fewer than six counties. It reads: "Be it resolved that the O.P.P.M.B. form a health committee of eight major organizations in the province and return with a report to the semi-annual meet- ing on 'How the health status of Ontario hogs can be improved'. The organizations being: O.P.P.M.B., Onta- rio Swine Breeders, Meat Packers Council, Artificial Insemination Units, Quality Swine Co-op, O.M.A.F., Agri- culture Canada and Ontario Veterinary Services". One of the messages the Board is going to get this year would appear to be that producers are getting more concerned with swine health and want some action taken. With the backing of the councilmen at the meeting, action will be taken. Resolutions, then, are important in our organization because they serve two purposes: (1) they are a means by which the Board gauges the concerns of the province's producers and at the same time give direction to the policies the Board sets and action it takes in dealing with these concerns and (2) because they come from the producers themselves they give the Board the strong "grass roots" authority they need in lobbying with governments and deal- ing with other segments of the pork industry. It follows that if we are to have a strong, responsive marketing board we need strong, active county associations. We don't want to slip into a situation where the tail wags the dog. The Perth County Pork Producers Association is making some changes in their meeting format to encourage more producer involvement throughout the year. You will be kept informed of any changes in future issues of this news- letter. A RECO 1982 was a record year for hog numbers and prices. Here are a few of the statistics: There were 4,203,305 hogs sold in Ontario last year, up 4.32% from 1981 and beating the previous high in 1981 of 4,175,897 by .66%. The average carcass weight was 170.1 lbs., up one pound over last year. On 4.2 million hogs this extra pound is equivalent to 25,000 hogs. Total exports from Canada in 1982 were 399.1 million lbs. which is equiva- County Perth' Huron' Wellington* Waterloo' Oxford Middlesex Lambton Kent Bruce* Grey* RD YEAR lent to 3.7 million hogs or 28% of Canadian volume. (Total Canadian pro- duction was 12,701,317 hogs, down 2.64% from 1981.) Thirteen lbs. of pork were exported for every one Ib. that was imported. Total imports were down 25% from last year. The average weighted price for Onta- rio in 1982 was up $13.48 or 19%; 1982 - $83.05/cwt.; 1981 - $69.57/cwt. The highest weekly average weighted price was for the week August 30 to Septem- ber 4 - $98.56. Counties ranked by Production No. of Hogs No. of Producers 1981 494,087 459,591 387,841 345,234 303,731 303,406 274,126 156,430 135,065 120,456 1982 501,720 491,228 409,113 366,418 323,773 294,452 293,860 155,392 140,513 124,344 1981 1982 1,877 1,813 1,486 1,103 1,039 970 879 635 1,006 1,254 1,804 1,716 1,384 1,059 893 926 792 591 958 1,132 The six north area counties produced 2,033,336 hogs or 48.4% of Ontario production and 16% of Canadian production, in 1982. (1.9% of North American production)