The Rural Voice, 2005-05, Page 57PERTH "Ilk
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Macro versus micro managing - looking at the big picture
Russ Danbrook, President
519-356-2385
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.
I am reminded of a commercial
which I believe was sponsored by
Ontario Federation of Agriculture that
aired on television several years ago.
The commercial simply displayed
words such as Engineer, Bookkeeper,
Electrician, Mechanic, Machinist,
Nutritionist, Veterinarian, and Crop
Scientist, Financial Manager, etc.
(these may not be the exact words).
The commercial ended saying that
these people represent the job
description of farmer. This commercial
gave a feeling of being proud of the
occupation of farming. More
importantly, it made me look at the job
of farming, from a different
perspective.
While planting corn yesterday, my
day's focus was on the job of planting
corn. That job includes micro -
managing variety, fertility, timing,
equipment and is a cumulative process
that started at harvest last year with
yield comparisons, variety selection,
and manure and fertility management.
We are constantly focusing on micro -
managing all aspects of corn
production right down to tire pressure
and tire size to reduce compaction. We
go to meetings and seminars to learn
better techniques from the experts. The
message that we constantly hear as
farmers is "to succeed in farming we
must be better managers".
There is a great deal of truth to the
message that we must constantly strive
to be better managers. Farming
techniques have improved dramatically
through specialization. We can not be
experts in all fields and as such we
must hire accountants, lawyers,
veterinarians, mechanics etc. so that we
can focus and micro -manage the jobs
that we are best at. For many of us
reading this article, that job that we
specialize in is swine production. No
longer do most farms in Ontario have
10 cows, 20 sows, 50 chickens, etc.
Today, many of these same family
farms have specialized in one type of
livestock, or even one aspect of
livestock production. On our farm, we
specialize in hog finishing and crop
production.
The point of this story is that we as
farmers can become so absorbed in
managing our daily production
practices as well as our own personal
issues that we can lose sight of some of
the bigger issues that may affect us. I
wonder how many beef producers were
concerned two years ago about the
potential ramifications of finding one
mad cow in Canada. One
announcement by the Federal
Agriculture Minister turned BSE from a
macro issue that most people didn't
think about, to a micro issue that
weighs daily on all beef producers'
minds and pocket books.
So while planting corn, and
wondering if I was planting too early,
to deep, was it going to rain or will we
have a late frost in June, it occurred to
me that these problems are financially
minor in comparison to the potential of
the hog industry being hit by a foreign
animal disease such as foot and mouth.
It also occurred to me as I listened to
the radio about the Gomery Inquiry,
non -confidence votes in parliament and
homosexual marriage that our
government really doesn't worry about
this macro issue either. The $100
million of mis-spent money and the two
to three -hundred million to find out
who did what, is nothing compared to
what foreign animal disease would do
to the livestock industry in Canada.
The one statistic that stands out in
my head is that of all the pork produced
in Canada, one half is exported. One
half either leaves our country on the
hoof or through meat exports to the
U.S. and Japan. Combine this with the
beef, sheep, and dairy industries and we
can see the scope of the problem. The
latest figure I have heard is that BSE
has caused at $6 billion dollar loss to
the beef industry - you do ,our own
math on the scope of the potential
problem.
There is some good news. however
There is an initiative to set up a border
point between Ontario and Manitoba at
West Hawk Lake. The idea of this
that in the event of a disease outbreak.
the country of Canada could be divided
in two regions. The hope is that exports
could resume in the region of the
country not affected by the disease. So
far, this has been a slow process
because it requires all cloven livestock
groups to be involved. As well. the
government must support and
administer the project. Most
importantly. the world must recognize
this initiative as a valid method of
control.
In Ontario. the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture has appointed h Chief
Veterinarian for Ontario. This person
would be the lead figure in the event of
animal health or related food safety
problems. Dr. Deborah Stark has been
named to this position. She trill also
advise the government on hether a
separate Animal Health Act should he
written for Ontario.
I would like to end by saying that
while dealing with our day-to-day
problems and chores on our farms. it is
important to step back and look at all
aspects of your operation. What would
we do if foreign animal disease hit our
financial statements'' Will the CAIS
program be enough to save us'? The
political train is moving on this issue -
it is however slow. Our challenge: hov.
to manage this problem before it
becomes one!O
- Submitted by David t'andetrulle
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 : R,.1M
Steve Hulshof (Kinkora) 348-8167
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
PCPPA shirts available
Perth County Pork Producer golf -type shirts available in navy with white PCPPA logo and white with blue PCPPA logo, two styles:
men's traditional with button closure, women's with a v -neck and collar (no buttons). Cost would be $27 each. To order contact
Deb Campbell at 519-235-1609 or depcampbell@tcc.on.ca Make cheque payable to Perth County Pork Producers and mail to Deb
at B 231 Carling Street, Exeter, ON NOM 1S2.
MAY 2005