The Rural Voice, 1997-06, Page 36So far, so good
For one producer the new Quality
Assurance Program has already shown a
good return for the added effort
Story by Keith Roulston
For Dave Linton, the extra time required to keep records
for Ontario Pork's Quality Assurance Program pilot
project has already brought returns.
The pilot project for Ontario Pork's Quality Assurance
Program has barely begun, but already one
participating farmer feels the investment in time has
been rewarded.
Dave Linton, who with his wife Brenda and young
family run a farrow -to -finish operation near Brussels, is
one of 73 Ontario pork farmers participating in the QAP
pilot project. Linton has even more involvement than most
of the others because he is part of the 18 -member
committee overseeing the project.
Not only has the involvement in the process been an
educational experience, but it improved his farm operation,
Linton says. On a very practical level, for instance, the
program provides fridge thermometers for all participants
and this helped him find out that the refrigerator where he
stores his antibiotics was running about two degrees too
warm, perhaps reducing the effectiveness of the drugs.
32 THE RURAL VOICE
From a management perspective, Linton's involvement
has convinced him to change his needling practices for
young pigs to reduce the possible effects of scarring. It was
always so handy to pick a piglet up by its leg and stick the
needle in the hip, he recalls. The program made him
realize, however, that scarring could damage the large,
valuable ham of the pig while needling in the neck could
could only result in damage to a much cheaper cut of meat.
In the long run, he says, it's,just as easy to put the piglet
under your arm and inject it in the neck but it took the
education process to make him aware of it.
The investment in time in keeping the forms the
program requires hasn't been a burden, Linton says. Most
of the paperwork was something he already did but now
QAP provides forms to record it on, he says.
The program includes a form on which an inventory of
all drugs kept by the producer must be recorded, along with
the manufacturer's name, the recommended dosage, the
precautions that go with use of the drug and information on
withdrawal times. The program provides Drug Withdrawal
Charts which list withdrawal times for all drugs licenced
for use in swine in Canada.
"The vet thinks it's just great," says Linton of the new
record keeping. Putting the information down on paper
makes the fanner more aware of the restrictions.
OMAFRA's Dr. Tim Blackwell, who has been in
charge of developing the QA pilot program for
Ontario Pork, brings a veterinarian's perspective to
the program and feels this new awareness on the part of
farmers would be a major breakthrough, and may be
important in letting farmers keep the same freedom to
administer drugs they now have. "If we want to continue to
have the privilege of using these drugs, almost at our own
discretion, we'd better prove we know how to handle
them," he says. Although he thinks drug residues are not a
health threat, he compares the situation with farmers using
pesticides. If they were to continue to have the privilege of
handling such toxic substances, they had to take a course
and learn the power of what they were handling.
Blackwell stresses that consumers are getting quality
food now. "Nobody has ever, ever, ever demonstrated that
anyone has even developed a rash because of drug residues
in their pork. But people don't want residues in their pork
chop. They wonder, if antibiotic residues are getting
through, what else might be getting through?"
Linton feels there are savings for farmers in using drugs
more knowledgeably. Often, he says, you may continue
using a drug your vet once recommended but he doesn't
know you're still using it.
Blackwell doesn't see huge savings but there may be
some drugs being used that aren't necessary. "The point is
you don't need it so why use it?"
For many farmers the program will be a confirmation
that they're already doing things well, Blackwell says.
Many people are doing things properly but don't know it.
In some cases the program shows them that, though they're
generally doing things well, they can improve in some
aspects of their management. There's a sense of pride for
many farmers in doing things well, Blackwell says.
Blackwell and his committee began meeting a year ago
to develop the plan. The pilot is aimed at what Blackwell
calls "drugs, bugs and the environment." Phase one, which