The Rural Voice, 2003-09, Page 731
PERTH ifetk
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Pat Louwagie, President
519-393-6424
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA.
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
On more than one occasion I have
heard Ontario Pork directors make
the statement that (paraphrased) —
"we are the voice of all pork
producers in the province of
Ontario".
This may have been true when the
board was first conceived 50 years
ago — when farms were "mixed" and
farmers kept 10 to 20 sows — fed
skim milk from the cows to the
offspring, finishing the pigs
themselves.
This argument probably even held
for 40 years. But in the last 10 years
our industry has changed
dramatically. The pork industry in
Ontario has become vastly different
than it was 50 years ago. It has
become what could easily be
described as "segmented".
Today, within our industry we
have several "segments" including
the independent hog producers
(IOHP), the large barn operators who
meet regularly and another self-
interest group involved with contract
production and known as S.E.W.s or
loops. All of these groups sell
finished hogs through the board. All
of these groups have the expectation
that for their service fees (currently
$1.85 per pig) that the board will act
in their best interest.
I believe that while we call
ourselves an association that we
could also be described as a form of
union where the producer/members
should enjoy certain rights/benefits in
return for the service fees (dues) paid.
I think the board to date has done
a relatively good job of representing
all of the producers within these
groups
Therein lies the rub!
There are many producers (I don't
have an exact number) who are
exporting replacement pigs out of the
country who do not have to
contribute to Ontario Pork, but who
Who is Ontario Pork?
do enjoy a number of benefits from
Ontario Pork's efforts.
In the last three to four years the
number of pigs being exported has
grown dramatically from
approximately 10,000 head per
month to over 200,000 head per
month (as reported by Ontario Pork).
That number equates to about 2.5
million head/year. Put in other terms
— we ship approximately five million
head of finished hogs to market in
Ontario and export 2.5 million head
of replacements — one-third of our
weaners out of province.
How long can Ontario Pork
continue to be seen as the "sole seller
of hogs" in Ontario? And by whom?
How can this be fair to the producers
who are stuck paying service fees?
How much longer can this
continue?
At the 2003 annual meeting in
Toronto in March, Ken McEwan's
report concluded that it was not
worthwhile to try to collect fees on
export replacement pigs. I argued
then, and still believe, that in terms of
fairness to all producers, the
producers of export replacement pigs
should also be contributing to Ontario
Pork. My question then as now is —
when is the number of export
replacements large enough to justify
action? Is 2.5M/year not significant
enough?
If the government (OMAF) and
the producers in this province want to
see Ontario Pork continue to be the
voice of producers we must facilitate
action to bring this "segment" of our
industry into the fold.
We have been told that this could
require a vote of the exporting
producers — but be careful because
such a vote could somehow diminish
the power of Ontario Pork. 1 believe
it is time to stop "pussyfooting"
around this issue.
Why are we so afraid of a vote?
As part of a vote the exporting
producers should form an identifiable
group to work with Ontario Pork.
Together they/we would establish
fair terms such as service fees,
benefits, etc. to form the basis for a
vote to become part of Ontario Pork.
A yes vote benefit might be a
guarantee of representation at the
board table.
On the other hand — a no vote
might create an unwelcome set of
consequences.
We have seen firsthand what
B.S.E. has done to the beef industry.
The closed border is devastating to a
commodity that ships 70 per cent of
production (50 per cent net) out of
country.
If the border were to become
closed to pork and hogs for some
reason what would we do with an
additional 2.5M weaners?
Which producers — long-term
supporters of the board might be
displaced?
Who would the board have to
defend and how?
Could our industry stand this
dissension?
If Ontario Pork is to continue to be
the voice of all of the producers in
this province we must be able to say
we represent ALL producers.
The time for action is now.0
— Submitted by Russ Danbrook
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
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
SEPTEMBER 2003 69