The Rural Voice, 2006-10, Page 571
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PERTH 114*
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Russ Danbrook, President
519-356-2385
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA.
How to open doors but stay secure
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
What are the consequences of
swine biosecurity? This was a
question posed in the article
submitted last month by Rob
Nyenhuis.
For starters let's revisit the fact
that many swine farms have a closed -
door biosecurity policy — not to
ridicule it but to relate it to other
industries.
As I have mentioned in previous
articles I have submitted, I worked
for an automotive company. No, we
did not have a bioseurity policy but
we certainly did have a policy of no
unauthorized admittance. To be
specific, guests had to go to reception
and have an individual meet them.
There were areas where general
access was allowed i.e. meeting
rooms but you could not just stroll in
and wander the factory floor just
because you wanted to, you had to
have an escort and permission to be
there. Our restrictions were not
overly stringent but they were in
place. I know of other sectors, non -
agriculture, which must have a
closed -door policy, either to protect
company development, because the
environment is not safe for non -work
related access or a plethora of other
reasons.
So what have some of these
companies done to let the general
public know what goes on behind the
closed -doors. The list of creative
ideas companies have employed is
very long but here are some of the
very simple solutions they have used.
Open tours — the plant where I
worked gave guided tours to family
and friends. Done in a controlled
environment, let people see what
happened in the plant. Other
industries have built viewing areas
where non -employees could watch
daily activities and yet another one is
to video tape events where access to
these areas could be risky.
So what can we in the swine
industry do? Well depending on your
comfort level and finances, similar
things could and can be implemented.
On our finishing operation we have
given tours. We were part of the
Harvest day tour put on in Perth
County. Now to be clear, our barn
was new and empty and after the
event was over, was completely
disinfected but we have also had two
groups of international farmers tour
our setup when it was in operation.
Precautions were taken; everyone had
to have had a shower before coming
on site and when inside our facility
had to be wearing the white'
disposable coveralls, masks and
plastic boot covers. I have heard of
one other swine facility, 1 believe a
farrowing operation, that did actually
build a secure viewing area so that
they could have guests see the
happenings in their operation.
What if these or other options are
not available or desirable to your
operation?
Well that is where education
comes in. I never realized how even
farm kids do not know about different
sectors of agriculture until I was at an
event were we barbecued a pig. An
individual who had grown up on a
farm (not swine) refused to eat any of
the meat because she thought that it
was disgusting. When stated that it's
the same ham that would be
purchased at a store, she flatly stated
that it was not. There was a
disconnect between the meat
purchased at a store and the animal
raised on the farm. If kids raised on
the farm don't realize where their
food comes from where do you think
someone with no connection to
agriculture thinks their food comes
from.
The importance of agriculture
being included in our education
system, events like Ag 10l sponsored
by Perth County Federation of
Agriculture or farm tours like Harvest
Days becomes that much more
important.
Does that mean we peed to go
back to an open-door policy and risk
the possibility of biohazards? The
answer is no, so let's ask the question
again What are the consequences of
swine biosecurity? The answer
becomes simple, a general lack of
knowledge and understanding by
non -farm -related individuals.
What makes it worse are
individuals and groups that exploit
that lack of knowledge to further
personal or organizational agendas.
To counter this we must make sure
we do not hide behind the flag of
biosecurity. We must be prepared, in
a controlled environment, to accept
biosecurity hazards and allow access
to our farms (an example is Ag101 or
Harvest day tours). The most
important one is that we in the
industry must be prepared to educate
or have the ability to provide
education on our sector of agriculture
to the public in general.°
— Submitted by Bert 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
AVA/CABLE FROM:
Steve Hulshof (Kinkora) 348-8167
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
OCTOBER 2006 53