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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Rural Voice, 2006-07, Page 57PERTH Alk County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER Russ Danbrook, President 519-356-2385 ' The Rural Voice is provided to Perth County Pork Producers by the PCPPA. Should Ontario Pork open up marketing? Any opinions expressed herein may not necessarily reflect the views of the Perth County Pork Producers' Association. How do they do it? How do individuals for such as Mary Baxter or Philip Shaw who have articles in Voice of the Farmer or any of the people who have articles in either daily or weekly newspapers or magazines keep coming up with ideas to write about? I only have to come up with maybe three articles a year and, with the exception of the first one I wrote several years ago, every one after that has been challenging. I must have been reading this out loud, I think I just heard my better half ask if I wanted some cheese to go with the whine. At our last county meeting, we had a presentation about changes that a group of producers would like to see with regards to the marketing of hogs. I did not make it for the presentation and discussion but have been able to read some articles written on this subject and believe that this is something worth spending a bit of time on. As you may or may not know. all hogs in the province are marketed through Ontario Pork. A group of producers wants the province's marketing system opened to allow producers to do their own marketing or to make use of a marketing agency other than Ontario Pork. The article had the following quote "Sometimes producers feel they can do a better job (than Ontario Pork) in their particular case. Simpson, (the individual being quoted) added, the shift may also provide the opportunity for producers to access markets that are perhaps not being marketed now. This group of producers does support Ontario Pork's role as providing the province's producers with a single voice on all other issues except marketing. They also support the organization's continued presence in marketing although they would like to see that function become a separate agency. So is this a good or bad thing? To be truthful, I do not know. Like so many things, change always has to occur. From my computer days, any program over six months old could always be improved. As for farming we have recently invested in managed sorters to replace our old sorter. So no matter how you look at it or what sector you belong to, change occurs. BUT on this topic should the change to marketing go in the direction this group of producers believes or should the change to how hogs are marketed be changed but controlled as it currently is, within Ontario Pork? No matter what the outcome, I believe the winds of change for marketing of hogs in Ontario are blowing. How it turns out only time will tell. A second conversation piece is the thinning supply of hogs going to market in Ontario. So where are the hogs going? Well one answer given is that there has been a surge of earlier feeder pig shipments to the U.S.; not just sales to U.S producers, but Canadian producers deciding to establish finishing operations across the border. This shortage appears to be having some benefit as producers are now generally seeing more choice in the contracts being made available to them. A second reason has been a province wide mortality rate from circovirus running at 10 to 12 per cent. On the hardest-hit farms this figure was reported anywhere from 40-50 per cent. Our operation has been lucky on the circovirus front (touch wood) and has only seen a mortality rate of six to seven per cent. Just as we are now happy to find gas under a $1 per litre, once I would be irritated to find an animal that needed to be removed, but on this batch, only finding one animal that needs to be removed as Martha Stewart says "That's a good thing". Disease outbreaks like this takes its toll on all those involved but if what I read is correct, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Four companies have vaccines in the pipeline for porcine circovirus type 2. Any way you look at it there always seems to be lots going on. Phil Anwender ended one of his articles with the statement something like this: hang on it, could be a wild ride ahead. I think that statement works as well today as it did months ago when he included it in his article.0 — Submitted Bert 1 Vorstenbosch 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 JULY 2006 53