The Rural Voice, 1991-09, Page 80PERTH rtk
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
NORTH CAROLINA TOUR PROVES ENLIGHTENING
Eight Perth County Pork Producers,
including myself, had a very interesting
tour of North Carolina Swine Units.
I will briefly go over some of the
highlights and a complete story will
likely appear in next month's Rural
Voice. Also available from our Asso-
ciation will be a videotape.
Our itinerary was as follows:
We met Jennings Humphrey, presi-
dent, North Carolina Pork Producers
Association; Dr. Bill Schoenherr, ex-
tension swine nutritionist; W.G. Sim-
mons, extension area specialized swine
agent, and Association secretary Gerry
Seeney. These people travelled with us
for the entire tour.
We visited Murphy Farms home
office, and a 3,400 sow farrowing opera-
tion. Murphy farms is the world's larg-
est pork producer.
Lundy Packing Company, a family
owned packing company that slaughters
8,000 hogs per day, was the next stop.
We toured Hog Slats Inc., a family
owned business that specializes in the
production of swine equipment, and
builds complete swine units.
Between stops, we enjoyed dinner
and a round table discussion with
members of the North Carolina Pork
Producers Association and other pro-
ducers.
M. and R. Livestock, a farm owned
by Allen McCoy, was the next stop.
This farm produces F1 maternal line
gilts, an 800 sow farrow to finish opera-
tion.
Marion Howard's farm followed.
This commercial swine farm is cur-
rently expanding and has just finished
constructing some new facilities. We
also visited with Marion Howard's
family in their home.
North Carolina ranks sixth nation-
ally in pork production, and is consid-
ered to be the most progressive and
technologically advanced hog state in
the U.S. It is the fastest growing, with
approximately a 15 per cent annual in-
crease over the past three years in mar-
ket hogs sold. In 1990, North Carolina
76 THE RURAL VOICE
producers sold 5.5 million head of hogs
and they expect the figures for 1991 to
show an increase of possibly 19 per cent.
North Carolina has more large swine
operations that any other state, with 70
premises with 1000 sows or more.
The larger operations account for 78
per cent of the sows and 84 per cent of
the finishing capacity.
' All of us were very impressed with
the aggressiveness and the forward
thinking of the pork industry in this
state. It was very evident that they have
a very healthy pork industry, as all of the
producers that we spoke to are expand-
ing or have expanded this past year. It
won't surprise me if, in the next five to
seven years, some of their pork moves
north into our markets
They definitely have production
advantages over us, such as cheaper
building cost, better climate, and less
environmental laws.
All the people that we met and vis-
ited with were very friendly and most
willing to share their accomplishments
with us.
I feel that we made some excellent
contacts, and also that they now under-
stand somewhat better our concerns as it
relates to countervail, and our tripartite
stabilization insurance plan.
Many thanks to Kurt Keller for doing
an excellent job in planning this tour.0
PERTH COUNTY GOLF DAY
About 120 producers and industry
related people enjoyed a great day of
golf.
A special thank you to Daco for
barbecuing and supplying the meat.
Following is a list of the industries
that donated prizes: Nuhn Industries,
MasterFeeds, Farmis Ltd., J.D. Weld-
ing, Elanco, J. De Block, Mitchell Dis-
trict Credit Union, C.I. Hishion Trans-
port, Farm Credit, Premium Swine Ex-
change, Solway Animal Health, Mitch-
ell Co -Op, N.P.D. Breeding Co., Dol -Ar
Swine Exchange, J.P. Uniac Insurance,
M.T.S. Farm Supply, Stratford Co -Op,
Grand Valley Fortifiers, Moore Insur-
ance, Shakespeare Feed Mill, Sommers
Generators, Bruce Schmidt Construc-
tion, T.S.C. Stores, Aikens Tire, Martin
Feed Mills, Shur -Gain, Mitchell Feed
Mills, Fred Groenestege Construction,
Ag -Co Products Ltd., Pfizer, Stratford
Farm Equipment, Chelton Ag Centre,
Agromart, Hulton Farm Supplies,
McGuire Welding, Mitchell - Monkton
Vet Services, Pioneer Seeds, Tony De
Groot, Logan Ford, Ward's Farm
Equipment, Hoffmeyer Planing Mill,
Downie Mutual, Macro Blend, National
Trust, and Elma Mutual.0
submitted by Arnold Van Moorsel
Pork Products are available from:
Wayne Hartung 291-4038
Fred De Martines 393-6812
Martin Van Bakel 345-2666
Dennis Zehr 595-4771