The Rural Voice, 1999-09, Page 76sales had increased 81 per cent this
past year because people want
something they can throw on the
barbecue and cook in a few minutes.
On the other hand, pork picnic rolls
are hard to sell even at 89 cents a
pound because
people don't want
to take the time to
cook them.
"The good old
days when mom
cooked a roast are
gone. I have three
daughters," he said.
"Two can't cook
and one's a chef."
Most young people
aren't being trained how to, cook
either in their own homes or in
school, he said.
The industry can still grow and
survive, Riddell said, but it has to
come to the understanding that the
grower has to make it, the processor
has to make it, the retailer has to
make it, and the consumer has to buy
it.
Knechtel picked up on the idea of
co-operation. A former Knechtel's
executive himself, he said most
retailers would love a way to
stabilize their margins on a long-term
basis. Ontario Pork has been working
with one Targe retailer on just that
kind of idea, he said, guaranteeing
the retailer a long-term stable price
for pork. "It ain't going to be quick,"
he warned, saying there are many
hurdles in the way.
Knechtel said Ontario Pork has
been trying to deal directly with
retailers as a way of learning more
about the ultimate market for the
products of Ontario pork farms. For
instance, he said, the agency learned
that Ontario producers, have done a
good job of heading the call for
larger and leaner hogs but retailers
now find the pork chops are too big
and don't have enough marbling to
give the taste the consumer wants. It
will take co-operation with packers
to solve this problem.
Collis, in his portion of the talk,
warned that the consumer is fickle
and his company (and pork
producers) are in the protein
business, not the meat business. If
customers don't like what is offered
Don Riddell:
Retailers are
scared too
72 THE RURAL VOICE
News
they can switch to another form of
protein. The customer wants a safe,
wholesome, quality -assured product
and that is why quality controls like
Hazard Analysis Critical Control
Points (HACCP) at the plant level
and Quality Assurance at the farm
level, are important.
It's the job of the processor to find
new customers for pork products, he
said. "It's our job to determine what
are real changes in the marketplace
and what are just fads," Collis said.
The processors must analyze, for
instance, whether the concern over
genetically modified products is
long-term or just short term.
Certainly on a trip to Japan he was
asked a lot of questions, Collis said.
Could producers guarantee there was
no genetically modified grain in their
feed rations, he wondered?
It's the job of the producer to
share information with others in the
pork chain, including benchmarking
with other producers, to produce the
Farmer's retail tax
exemptions
expanded
best product the most economically.
"The customer rules," he said.
Knechtel spoke of the need for
trust between the retail, packing and
producing parts of the pork industry
must be rebuilt.
But Collis sounded as if there
wasn't much time for partners to
connect in a single supply chain
before the options would be limited.
The majority of the hogs that reached
Quality Packers' standards came
from producers with whom the
company had an "interdependent
relationship", he said.
"Integration will gain momentum
in the absense of a strong, integrated
relationship," he said. "People with
money will create their own
relationship if they can't get it from
the market.
"It's time for you to pick your
partner, focus and go on. It's time to
choose your road. Spend less time
thinking about what happened today
and concentrate on tomorrow."0
Advice
Commercial farmers may
purchase farm implements, farm
equipment, farm machinery, repair
parts, and agricultural products
exempt from Ontario Retail Sales
Tax (RST). Effective with the May 4,
1999 Ontario Budget, the exemption
was expanded to include: antifreeze,
calcium chloride, forms for recording
animal weights and other data,
lubricating oil and grease, and
generators.
To purchase qualifying goods
exempt from RST, farmers must sign
the receipt declaring the goods are
for farm use. A declaration is not
required to purchase items
specifically designed for use in
farming that are already tax exempt.
The May 4, 1999 Ontario Budget
announced that the temporary
farmers' rebate for building materials
(ie., wood, nails, paint, etc.) will
become permanent. The rebate
applies to building materials
purchased to build or modernize
buildings or structures used
exclusively for farm purposes. The
rebate will not become effective until
enacting legislation is passed.
Accordingly, all claims for building
materials purchased after March 31,
1999 will be held pending passage of
the enacting legislation.
To claim a rebate the "General
Application for Refund of Ontario
Retail Sales Tax" form must be
completed. Copies of the receipts for
goods purchased by the farmer or a
copy of the contract or invoice issued
by the contractor, must accompany
the application. The refund
application must be received by the
Ministry of Finance's Retail Sales
Tax Branch within four years from
the date the tax was paid.
Only commercial farmers may
qualify for the exemptions or rebate.
A commercial farmer is a person
engaged in the business of farming.
Hobby farmers do not qualify for the
rebate or exemptions.
Additional information and copies
of the refund application or a
Purchase Exemption Certificate may
be obtained from your local Retail
Sales Tax office listed in the blue
pages of your telephone directory.0