The Rural Voice, 1995-09, Page 73PERTH PPit
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
John VanNes, President
519-393-6479
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA.
U.S. pig events certain to impact Ontario industry
BY MARK YUNGBLUT
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
The inevitable happened this
summer in North Carolina. After
much heavy rain, the banks of an
eight acre lagoon for a 1,200 sow
farrow -to -finish unit broke.
Twenty-five million gallons of
liquid hog manure spilled into the
countryside and a nearby river,
obviously causing much havoc.
Ironically, this "state of the art"
lagoon was the first to be inspected
and approved by the State, to
ensure the environmental safety of
lagoons. It was later determined
that the lagoon was properly
designed. The lack of lagoon
maintenance and farm management
was at fault. Activists and lobby
groups were quick to respond. One
powerful group was pushing the
State government to put an
immediate one-year ban on the
construction of any new hog barns
and processing plants. A local
public meeting was held after the
spill. Disturbingly, of all the
people that attended, none were
pork producers. An attorney
advised property owners affected
by the spill that their options
included a class-action lawsuit or
damage claims. This disaster
should make us all ensure that
proper manure management is
continually practised. We must
continue to be proactive.
The Chicago. Mercantile
Exchange may change its live hog
futures and options contracts to
"lean hog" futures and options.
New contracts would be based on
carcass values per hundredweight
instead of on live hogs per
hundredweight. If approved, the
first trading may occur in late 1996
or early 1997. The Exchange is
also planning to increase the size of
the contract from the current 160
market hogs (or pounds equivalent)
to a carcass equivalent of
approximately 215 market hogs.
These proposed changes arc
supposed to help the hedging needs
of pork processors and pork
wholesalers. These changes may
make forward contracting more
difficult for smaller producers.
This new contract may also reduce
some basis variability.
For Canadian producers there
appears to be opportunity to
Appreciation Night and Roast
for
John Lichti
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1995
Shakespeare Optimist Hall
Social 6:00 p.m. Dinner 7:00 p.m. Roast 8:30 p.m.
Cost $15/person
Tickets available from PCPPA councillors
forward contract more
"comforting" pig prices over the
next year. Today the
Illinois/Indiana average was $49.25
(U.S.) CWT, which, with the
current exchange rate, equates to a
dressed equivalent of $174.42/Ckg
CDN. for index 100 hogs, at the
close of today's (August 17) futures
market. The lowest contract price
over the next 12 months equates to
approximately $153.25/Ckg CDN.
(April 1996), all factors remaining
constant.
In the first half of 1995, U.S.
pork exports were higher than U.S.
pork imports. Much of this export
increase has resulted from the
increased demand in Japan for
chilled pork. U.S. exports to Russia
are also up significantly.
Predictions are that in 1996, for the
first time since 1952, the United
States will be a net exporter of
pork. Obviously, with a large
portion of our production exported
to the U.S. and Japan, Ontario
producers have no time to show
complacency. We must continue to
strive for further productivity
improvements from our technology,
genetics and nutrition.0
PERTH COUNTY
PORK PRODUCERS'
PORK PRODUCTS
• Smoked Pork Chops • Fresh Pork Chops
• Stuffed Loin Chops • Smoked Sausage
• Smoked Cheddar Sausage
• Pork Burgers • Bacon Burgers
• Boneless Rib 0' Pork
• Teriyaki Pork Steaks
• Bruce Packers Summer Sausage
• Vitlorio's BBQ Sauce
AVAILABLE FROM:
Fred de Martines (Sebr.) 393-6812
Dennis Zehr (Brun.) 595-4771
Martin van Bakel (Dublin) 347-2666
SEPTEMBER 1995 69