The Rural Voice, 2002-05, Page 65PERTH 11'R
County Pork Producers N E W S L E TT E R Count) Pork Producers by the PCPPA
Brazil's pork potential
Jim Van Nes, President
519-393-6712
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
Two months ago. 16 individuals
from provincial pork organizations
across Canada flew to Brazil for a
one-week glance at the industry
there. The purpose of the trip was to
understand the production and
processing sectors better and, quite
frankly, try to determine Brazil's
export potential. Ontario Pork chair.
Clare Schlegel and I attended from
Ontario. I want to briefly describe
what we saw.
Brazil is a country with a land
mass larger than the continental
USA. It varies from tropical, humid
temperatures in the north to drier.
more moderate conditions in the
south. The topography is just as
varied. We visited the south and saw
mountainous areas. giving way to
rolling fields and eventually flat plain
areas as we moved north. Many of
the 170 million people live in cities
along the Atlantic seaboard.
Prior to the mid-1990s, Brazil's
curse was rampant inflation. It has
now been brought to single digit
proportions, allowing for business
stability and a greater degree of
foreign investment. Interest rates can
be as high as 20 per cent for personal
loans to nine per cent for loans
directed at specific business
endeavours.
The hog sector is starting to feel
the benefit of that stability. It is
anticipated that 20 million new
Brazilian consumers will start to
purchase processed food regularly as
their income potential increases. Pork
will be one of their choices. Per
capita consumption of pork is 11
kilograms, lagging well behind beef
at 30 and chicken at 26. Seventy per
cent of pork is eaten in processed
form. Chicken consumption has been
growing most rapidly in Brazil over
the past three decades from 10
kilograms in the early 1970s to 26
kilograms now. It is expected that
pork will see considerable growth
although perhaps not as rapid as
chicken.
Hog slaughter in 2001 was 28.6
million head. By comparison. Canada
marketed 26.2 million in the same
period. Hog genetics in Brazil are
very similar to North America
although International breeding
companies only arrived six years ago.
In addition to the private companies,
a national research organization
called Embrapa oversees testing.
breed development and many other
functions related to agriculture. We
visited two breeding farms. Weaner
production and pig quality were
impressive. Both farms were pushing
25 pigs per sow per year. The number
of people overseeing the sows was
certainly higher than in Canada and
this would be owing to lower wage
rates. Building design was normally
curtain -sided. Building costs would
be less than half of our average cost
in Ontario.
We visited two packing plants.
one of them quite new and part of a
vertically integrated project by
Brazil's second largest processor.
Perdigao. The "Buruti" project is
located in the center west state of
Goias. It handles both chicken and
pork and will process 7500 hogs per
day at capacity. Currently 2000 hogs
per day go through the plant.
Although the plant has new
equipment and is designed to meet
export standards. we noted many
more people on the line. Starting
salaries were 350 Brazilian dollars
per month or the equivalent of $275
Canadian. The plant's procurement
strategy is clearly with production
Perth County Pork
Producers next meeting
is June 5, 2002
Location: Office of
Dr. G. Charbonneau,
413 Hibernia St., Stratford
contracts for both sows and finishers.
This "greenfield" project hopes to
capitalize on lower corn costs than in
traditional producing states like Santa
Catarina that are corn deficient.
What about Brazil's export
potential'? It is assumed that Brazil
would have lower feed costs
Although in some areas like Goias
and Mato Grosso (the fastest growing
soybean state) this is true, the
traditional hog producing states and
those closest to export ports are
certainly corn deficient and feed costs
seemed comparable to Canada. Only
one state. Santa Catarina. is free of
Foot and Mouth disease.
Neighbouring states and countries
like Argentina are having difficulty
eradicating the disease. This will
definitely hamper exports.
Sheer distances to move
feedgrains and product over scarce
roads will also limit the export
potential. For now. Brazil seems
intent on stabilizing the economy
further. thus allowing the standard of
living to increase for its own people.
It would appear that for the near
future those same people will
consume the growing amount of
pork.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
MAY 2002 61