The Rural Voice, 2001-10, Page 57PERTH 1!�
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Round table thinking
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
The Perth County Pork Producers'
Association recently passed a motion
stating, "Whereas the Ontario Pork
Industry recognizes the need for long
term strategy to maintain our
visibility; and whereas Ontario Pork
is already developing a visioning
process with the packing industry and
the government; Therefore, Be It
Resolved that we, the Directors of
PCPPA support the OPPMB's efforts
to develop a Made in Ontario Round
Table Process."
What is a Round Table? I am not
sure where the name came from, but I
suppose it could be a throwback to
the days of King Arthur when all his
knights would sit at the round table
and they would plan their conquests
or how to defend the people
depending on them. The beauty of a
round table is that there is no head.
Everyone sits at it as equals and you
can see everyone else. Its very
structure implies listening and co-
operation.
Ten years ago the Quebec pork
industry started their own round table
process. In the beginning the
producers, the processors and some
related services were involved under
the umbrella of the government.
Today, membership consists of
production, the abattoirs and further
processing, services, grocery
distributors, unions, and universities:
37 people in all. To get a group of
people around a table from all
segments of the industry is one thing,
but what do they try to accomplish
and do they have success? The
mission of the Round Table is to
"assure the continuous reputation of
the agri-food pork sector on the
Perth County Pork
Producers meeting
November 7, 2001
Rostock Community Hall
Jim Van Herk, President
519-595-4863
' The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA.
market by fostering synergistic
efforts between various segments of
the industry in a common goal to
respond to consumers and society
concerning food safety, environment,
product quality. farming conditions
and safety nets".
The reasons for their success
according to the members are:
support of the provincial government.
single -desk marketing. issues that
have a commercial/financial impact.
goodwill of the members to work
together and vertical co-ordination
targeted on industry competitiveness.
Now most of us in Ontario know that
these things make sense. Vertical co-
ordination and working together have
been talked about for a number of
years. Even the notion of a "round
table" is not new to many.The
Ontario Pork Industry Council was
started a couple of years ago with the
idea of pulling together different
parts of the chain. Ontario Pork's
initiative with the processors and the
government has been focused more
on marketing, but the idea of working
together is still the same.
There are efforts in the works. so
why am I writing about a Round
Table again now? I believe that the
time is short to pull this off. The
issues are many and serious and
require the full attention of everyone
connected with pigs and pork. There
are forces both within and outside of
the production chain that left
unattended, will pull us apart and
leave us in a completely
uncompetitive position. For example.
pork producers recognize and society
has been nudging us to conform to
higher environmental standards. This
is good. but the media hype and the
community centre meetings have
been dividing producers, in some
cases pitting large against small.
We need nutrient management for
all regardless of size. and we need the
government to come in with a
regulatory framework that is balanced
and takes a long-term approach.
Without a comprehensive strategy
that covers soil. water. land -use
planning and many other aspects of
rural life. agriculture will be pushed
around and forced into the areas of
least resistance. Is this what we want?
I don't think so.
Marketing is another area where I
believe we cannot give up a
centralized approach. Although
contracting has helped foster
producer/processor relationships. it
has also led to more "me thinking" or
"island mentality". While allowing
the innovation to occur. we need to
draw all the players back together to
work on better trucking patterns.
animal welfare and food safety
issues. As producers. we might even
want to be concerned whether our
buyer is going to be around in five
years.
Up until now there are many
people making a living in the pork
industry who have not given the time
of day to supporting bigger picture
thinking. It is time we took a good
look around.0
— Submitted by Larry Skinner
PERTH COUNTY PORK PRODUCERS'
PORK PRODUCTS
• Smoked Pork Chops • Fresh Pork Chops • Stuffed Loin Chops
• Smoked Sausage • Smoked Cheddar Sausage
• Bacon Burgers • Teriyaki Pork Steaks • Vittorio's BBQ Sauce
AVAILABLE FROM'
Steve Hulshof (Kinkora) 348-8167
Martin van Bakel (Dublin) .345-2666
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
OCTOBER 2001 53