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The Rural Voice, 1998-04, Page 73PERTH fotk County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER John Nyenhuis, President 519-393-6539 • The Rural Voice is provided to Perth County Pork Producers by the PCPPA Perth resolutions pass at Ontario Pork convention Any opinions expressed herein may not necessarily reflect the views of the Perth County Pork Producers' Association. On March 18 and 19 the OPPMB Annual Meeting was held in Toronto. As stated in last month's article, a resolution from Perth, asking for the adjustment of the grading table so hogs over 95 kg would not be penalized as severely was discussed and passed by councillors. This is difficult to negotiate as some packers suggest that they do not want these heavy hogs. This issue should help remind us that our customers have various needs and as producers we need to aim to provide to the specification of each individual packer. The Task Force presented their final report which included a few more details than the previously released report. The councillors had opportunities in several question and answer sessions with the Task Force to better understand the report. As discussion occurred on the report it was still clear that various councillors viewed the recommendations differently. Some felt that the changes were minor in nature while others saw them as very major changes. Some were of the opinion the report was removing too many powers from the OPPMB while still other councillors thought they were not going far enough in giving producers freedom to market their hogs. As you can see there are many diverse opinions as to the marketing needs of producers in Ontario. The resolution from Perth County was the first one to be debated of all resolutions regarding the Task Force report. It requested that the report from the Task Force be given more time for discussion and that a vote on the adoption of the report be taken at a later date. This resolution was passed by a majority of councillors as well as the resolution following, from Oxford County. This resolution asked that a working group be sct up to find producer benefits and/or drawbacks from the marketing approaches recommended by the task force and how these new approaches might be structured. This is quite a major change for the OPPMB among other changes now being implemented to meet the continuing challenges in the way hogs arc marketed here in Ontario. OPPMB CEO Julien Den Tandt reported that a six-year agreement had been negotiated by Maple Lcaf Foods and the workers union, ending the strike. The union has launched a challenge to the validity of the vote claiming intimidation was uscd and thereby influenced the vote. It is expected, however, that the vote will be upheld. The OPPMB staff, directors, truckers and other packers are to be commended for adapting to the challenges that this strike with the largest packer had put on the Ontario industry. The plant is expected to begin operations again at the beginning of April and Maple Lcaf plans to spend $30 million to allow them to double shift within a year. This plant could then handle 60,000 to 70,000 hogs per week. Canadian Quality Assurance Program will be launched soon. This originally began as an Ontario initiative and has now become national. The program was discussed in a previous article but I would like to encourage producers to participate when the program is launched as this is the type of program that consumers, be it locally or internationally, will be demanding as the issues of wholesome, safe food become common. In France there is a store where product trace -back is very easy. You can purchase a cut of beef, take it home and go on the internet and look up the farm which that bccf had come from. Not only can you read about the farm but you can view a record of the animal which thc cut has come from. It is unlikely that this is typical, but it is an indication that the consumer is becoming more interested in having details of the production of thc food they are eating. The CQA program will be a step in showing that farmers are concerned about the safe production of quality food for the consumer. A comment by a processor was made that if you would not cat the meat from a specific hog, do not expect the consumer to want to either. The new computer program HAMS is in the testing stage currently. All those producers that are on the internet and visit the poor helpless crying pig will be glad when he gets a smile on his face. Staff indicated that it is difficult to predict when testing of the program will be completed but they anticipate it to be within the next two months. A revised statement will be noticed by all producers and those who are on the internet will have access to more detailed and quicker information on their hog settlement. Staff will be able to more easily provide information to producers. If you are interested in receiving information on your hogs by way of the internet you must have a personal identification code that can be obtained by contacting the OPPMB office.0 Submitted by Richard Yantzi 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 AVAILABLE FROM: Fred de Martines (Sebr.) 393-6812 Martin van Bakel (Dublin) 347-2666 Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000 Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836 APRIL 1998 69