The Rural Voice, 1988-06, Page 24T
AN INTERNATIONAL
ENTERPRISE
Ralhen Black and Whites
he Hendersons have the
world at their doorstep
through their involvement
with the swine industry.
In addition to selling registered
Hampshires (and some York) breed-
ing stock locally, the Hendersons sell
world-wide to more than 25 countries,
places such as Sweden, Denmark,
Czechoslovakia, Peru, Malaysia,
Singapore, Italy, and the Phillipines.
They were the first to put Hamps in
Sweden and then the first to bring
them back out again. One boar in the
Henderson barn, imported from
Sweden, has bloodlines tracing back
to stock the Hendersons originally
sent to Sweden.
The Henderson enterprise is a
typical example of one of the many
purebred breeding stock operations in
this part of the country.
Ralhen Hampshires, as their busi-
ness is known, is based in Atwood,
Ontario. It's a family -style operation
and major business decisions are made
at the dinner table. Each of the four
members has a distinct area of respon-
sibility: Ralph oversees the sales,
Georgina maintains the records,
David, their son, is in charge of the
boars and the sow -breeding program,
and Gina, their daughter, is responsi-
ble for the farrowing barns. A neigh-
bour, Dale Shantz, also helps. "If
anyone needs extra work done, Dale
is there," says Georgina.
Originally, the Hendersons had a
dairy operation, then a five-year per-
iod with 20,000 turkeys, but they set-
tled into the breeding of Hampshires
in 1968. "We were at the point where
we were going to have to build more
barns for pigs and you can't keep pigs
and cows in the same barn. We were
already shipping over production at
that time and we were going to have to
by Sheila Gunby
"The pigs sell themselves, says Georgina Henderson. She's responsible for the office
work and keeps computerized records of the more than 900 active customers in the
past two to three years.
There are more than 200 pigs in the Henderson house, all in the main foyer, but they're
not for sale. Ralph has a collection of pigs —glass, ceramic, cloth, marble—gathered
and given by friends around the world. Of note are one pig hand -carved by an 80 -year-
old Swede, and a beautiful marble pig iron China.
22 THE RURAL VOICE