The Rural Voice, 2003-11, Page 49PERTH ifitk
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Pat Louwagie, President
519-393-6424
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA.
Which way is the pendulum swinging?
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
Have you ever watched a clock
pendulum swinging back and forth?
It is constantly in motion swinging
from one side to the other. It stops
only to change direction when the
force of gravity equals the
momentum of the pendulum and then
moves towards the middle again.
What does this have to do with pork
production or anything at all, you
ask? Well the answer is the pendulum
is a model of how people react to
issues and problems in everyday life.
Let me narrate an example. Let's
pretend the pendulum represents how
producers react to hog prices. When
hog prices are average, producers are
relatively happy. Their bills are being
paid and there is money left over to
pay them for all the hard work.
However, the price never stays the
same and eventually it begins to rise.
The pendulum is moving from the
central position to the right. We as
producers are happier and the
question is how high will the prices
go. The issue is should we lock in
prices today or wait for a higher price
tomorrow. Should we expand to take
advantage of these higher prices?
Just like a pendulum, the price hits a
limit and moves towards the average
price or central position. The prices
bounce around eventually come back
to the average and move lower. The
pendulum is moving left. How far left
will the pendulum go? The anxiety
increases as the prices continue to
drop. We all remember the anxiety
caused by the low hog prices of 1998
and we can sympathize with the
problems our fellow beef producers
are dealing with today.
Eventually, the anxiety decreases
as the prices begin to rise. There is an
increase in emotional energy caused
by very high or very low prices.
What we tend to forget is the cause of
low prices was probably the
emotional euphoria produced by
higher prices. When things are good,
the feeling is the sky is the limit.
Conversely when things are bad the
hole seems bottomless. Just like the
pendulum, there is a limit to
everything. but eventually everything
gravitates towards the centre. This
model can be used to look at issues
we deal with in everyday life.
One issue which Ontario Pork and
the Canadian Pork Council Board is
dealing with is the new National
Swine Traceability System, the details
of which are currently being worked
out. The idea of this program is that
all swine production facilities,
abattoirs and most importantly
movement of hogs would be
documented so that in the event of a
foreign disease outbreak, the diseases
could be contained quickly. At first
glance, this program seems harmless;
it's a good thing to do—or is it?
This was the topic of discussion at
the October monthly meeting of the
Perth County Pork Producers. It was
interesting to participate in the
conversation and more particularly
the emotion that ensued. In Ontario
approximately 90 plus per cent of all
hog production facilities have been
mapped by GPS in a Provincial
Database. My thoughts are what
about the remaining 10 per cent?
Currently this is a voluntary program
and so since it not legislated by
government we do not have to let
anyone on our farms to map the co-
ordinates of the front door of the
barn.
This is a complicated issue,
because it involves all cloven-hoofed
animals (if the foreign disease is foot
and mouth disease) including hogs,
cattle, sheep and goats. How do we
co-ordinate all the livestock groups to
work together not only provincially
but also nationally? How much will
this cost? Will it work? The questions
and issues are endless.
The cattle industry in Canada has
been dealt a tremendous blow with
one case of BSE. Several years ago
the United Kingdom's livestock
industry had been dealt a tremendous
blow with the outbreak of foot and
mouth disease along with the BSE in
cattle and the human form of it in
several cases. Holland, Belgium and
Germany have felt the effects of hog
cholera in their hog industry and the
list continues.
Many producers detest the idea of
doing, more paperwork and physical
work that a national traceability
program may require. The other issue
that bothers many is the lack of
freedom that results of doing more
paperwork and more particularly
third party monitoring. Programs
such as CQA, CFIA feed regulations,
Nutrient Management Plans and
countless other HACCP type
programs continue to be implemented
in the name of food safety.
Customers, (not necessarily the
consumer) want the suppliers to jump
through more and more food safety
hoops. The anxiety is increasing. Do
we as food producers have enough
liability insurance?
There are many dedicated men and
women who work hard in the back
rooms and boardrooms of the
different commodity boards. These
people are committed to helping us
deal with the individual problems of
our different commodities. The
challenge is to step back and look at
both extremes of the situation and
realize that the solution is somewhere
in the middle; maybe everyone
should have clocks with pendulums.0
– Submitted by David Vandewalle
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 (Mopkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
NOVEMBER 2003 45