The Rural Voice, 2000-03, Page 40kids don't have to move to the city
and take jobs in factories or office
buildings just to make a decent
living."
Olesen urged farmers to
encourage their children or
grandchildren to explore the career
options available close to home.
Speaking on trends in farm
machinery, Tim Smailes of Roberts
Farm Equipment in Chesley said the
market for equipment is narrowing.
Dealers used to feel there were three
markets: small equipment, medium
equipment and Targe equipment but
now there are two, either small or
large. For instance, there's no market
for small combines anymore, he said
and two wheel -drive tractors are
getting scarce.
Jim Snyder of Bruce Tractor and
Lawn Care agreed, noting there were
sales of 22,000 combines in the late
1970s and just 6,000 to 7,000 in 1999
but these were larger machines that
harvested as many acres or more than
the greater number of machines in
the 1970s. While in 1986 no
manufacturer had a large class 7
combine, the only segment of the
market growing today is in class 6
and class 7 combines and only two
companies are still making smaller
class 4 combines.
With the larger equipment, prices
have also gone up, Snyder said, but
those larger machines are also
covering more acres in shorter time.
The machines are also better
equipped. It's rare today to sell a
combine without a yield monitor, he
says.
While farmers in areas like Grey
and Bruce might prefer smaller
equipment it will be harder and
harder to get it as the rest of the
market turns to larger machines,
Snyder said. As more farmers work
off the farm they need to be able to
make best use of the hours they have
for farming, he said.
This doesn't make dealers happy
either, Snyder said. "We'd much
prefer to deal with 10 farmers
farming 1000 acres than one 10,000 -
acre farmer," he said noting that if
you lose one customer of that size
you are losing a major portion of
your business.
Just as farming is changing, so are
38 THE RURAL VOICE
News
farm dealerships, Smailes said.
Companies have said there will be
less inventory and dealers will have
to preseil equipment. "If you want to
see one (piece of equipment). you'll
have to take your customer to
someone who has one," he said.
In future, dealers will have
simulators which help demonstrate
tractors because the costs are too
high to demonstrate tractors.
To be part of a major company's
sales team dealers have to meet strict
standards even to the colour of the
building and the uniforms staff wear.
Staff, including sales, parts and
service personnel, will be required to
take special training before a new
line of equipment is offered. It may
mean the dealership will have to buy
new tools and that may make small
dealers uneconomic.
"We as dealers have to change as
fast as the farmers or even faster,"
Smailes said.0
Pork producers
worry overzealous
vets endanger QAP
Some Huron County pork
producers think veterinarians hired to
grade farms for the quality assurance
program are going too far.
Dave Linton, Brussels, county
director to Ontario Pork told the
annual meeting of the Huron County
Pork Prodicers' Association in
Varna, January 20, that he'd heard
various complaints from producers
about vets going beyond the checklist
for the program. In one case a
producer ended up with an $800 vet
bill. In another a producer was told
he had to clean up some tile piled
near a barn because it might attract
rodents, even though he had a rodent
control program in place.
"We need this quality assurance
program," Linton said, noting that
other countries expect top quality.
Doug Richards, field man for
Ontario Pork asked producers to
report to him examples of vets going
beyond their mandate. "If you have a
_problem please phone and let us
know. I've had a lot of rumours but I
can't act on coffee shop talk."
Richards said quality assurance is a
national program so there is only so
much Ontario Pork can do.0
Perth producers see
the result of past
resolutions
A year after a resolution from
Perth County started the process,
Ontario Pork's Stu DeVries outlined
the Ontario Feeder Pig Formula Price
to Perth County Pork Producers at
their annual meeting in Atwood,
January 26.
"We're trying to get a formulized
price," said DeVries, "trying to create
an industry benchmark.
The formula is based on several
assumptions about basis prices,
finishing time required, selling
weight, etc., even looking at a
common feed ration.
The strengths of the formula
DeVries said, is that it it allows the
sow owner to make direct use of the
futures market and hedging
opportunities. It allows normal
margins of the finisher to be realized
by the feeder pig supplier as based
off the Chicago futures market.
Six new resolutions to be taken to
the Ontario Pork annual meeting
were considered by the meeting.
The first called on Ontario Pork to
change the protocols of contracting
so they resemble the "platinum"
contracts to reaffirm Ontario Pork's
mandate that all hogs be sold through
Ontario Pork. It was carried.
A second resolution, also
approved, called on Ontario Pork to
create a "standing offer program"
similar to that available to Manitoba
pork producers. The program allows
producers to set a target price above
the current forward contract prices
being quoted and if the forward
contract price reaches this target the
hogs will automatically be sold,
unless the producer withdraws his
offer.
A third resolution called for
packers to be billed for losses on any
pigs contracted through the Pool Plus
program on those weeks, such as
holidays, when they don't take those
pigs and they must be marketed by
Ontario Pork for whatever they bring
on the open market when there's a
glut of pigs because of the short