The Rural Voice, 1991-04, Page 80PERTH
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Vince Hulshof, President
R. R. 1, Sebringville, NOK 1X0 393-5586
' The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA
OPPMB ANNUAL: PESSIMISM ABOUNDS
The 1991 OPPMB annual meeting is
how history. I would like to reflect on the
information we received as councilmen and
the attitudes and feelings expressed by them.
The sales report for the first nine weeks
of 1991 shows a continuing decline in hogs
marketed, down by 11 per cent over the same
period of 1990 with a price improvement of
$19.74 per 100 kilograms. Ninety-nine per
cent of these hogs were slaughtered at On-
tario plants. The feeling I received was that
the majority of producers feel the current
prices are inadequate, especially when one
considers our counterpart hog producers in
the U.S. are cxperiencing relatively profit-
able times, the top part of the hog price cycle.
One factor that greatly affects our prof-
itability relative to our U.S. counterparts is
the exchange rate. As the Canadian dollar
goes up, in my opinion, our competitiveness
goes down. Perhaps this is a contributing
factor to the large decrease in hog production
in Ontario.
Examples of exchange rate effect on hog
prices in Canada:
U.S. price Exch. Rate Canadian price
$52.00 $1.183 $163.10
$52.00 $1.128 $155.45
$52.00 $1.150 $158.55
Although the difference between top and
bottom is only $7.65, it is significant because
our costs don't all change accordingly.
Secondly, the dollars above our costs are
profits and although this is only a price drop
of 4.7 per cent, it may be a profit drop of 25
per cent or more, depending on an individ-
ual's costs.
At the meeting, Tom Smith, chairperson
of Canada Pork Council, reported the current
state of countervail on pork. As you all
know, this countervail will be eliminated in
the near future. The CPC is projecting that
the funds collected ($2.00 per hog) in 1989-
90 could be returned to producers as early as
May to June of this year.
Of course, the American producers are
upset about the possibility that this counter-
vail will be eliminated and, having taken
steps through their national agency, the
NPPC is requesting an extraordinary appeal.
In the February/March 1991 issue of the
Michigan Pork Producers' Association
News, NPPC president Mike Wehler is
quoted "NPPC desires that Canadian pork
imports continue to decrease and will be
monitoring those imports closely. U.S. pork
producers will consider refiling for another
countervailing duty on pork products and are
also exploring other options to help restore
fair trade, should Canadian imports in-
crease."
Receiving information from an Ameri-
can perspective has been revealing. Al-
though this fosters better understanding, on
this issue I believe consensus is not possible.
The American producer will always con-
sider tripartite an unfair subsidy and the
Canadian producer will feel countervail on
pork is unjustified.
However, we have many issues in com-
mon, and communication is important. To
this end, the Iowa State Pork Producers
Board is planning to bring two bus loads of
producers to Ontario during the Ontario Pork
Congress in June. They plan to visit produc-
ers as well as many of the industry related
offices and plants in Ontario. PCPPA initi-
ated this kind of exchange several years ago
and we continue to feel that these relation-
ships are important to the long term well
being of our industry.
Before I close, I would like to comment
on the pessimism I feel many producers
expressing. I realize the price we receive for
our product has not increased in the last ten
years or more, while the cost of living has
more than doubled and many of our costs
have increased drastically. In spite of this, I
feel there are some producers who continue
to make a good living raising hogs. We as
producers need to work aggressively at all
fronts if we are to remain successful in the
90s. Some of these areas are marketing (I
suggest whole -hearted support of the
OPPMB), technology (I suggest we need
more output per unit of input), production
efficiency, animal welfare, health, and cost
minimization. The list could go on.
I am sure that if we are diligent in our
efforts, Ontario will remain an important hog
producing area in North America.
Perth County Pork Producers' Associa-
tion is committed to work on your behalf to
this end.0
by Clare Schlegel
Winners of the 1990 Perth County Pork Producers' recognition awards were: (from left) Gerry and Linda Knechtel, of the Pork
Shoppe in Shakespeare, who won the promotions award; Wayne and Shirley Hartung (of Gowanston), chairman of the barbecue
committee and winners of the promotion award; Clare and Catherine Schlegel (of the Tavistock area), who were recipients of the
Perth County pork producer of the year award; and Georgeand Katie Baarda (of St. Marys), who were the Stratford fall fair carcass
competition winners. (photo by Andrea Yungblut)
76 THE RURAL VOICE