HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-12-06, Page 33Nutritlon Day - Kenpal offered 80 of its clients a chance to keep up to date on the latest methods of
swine nutrition at its Swine Nutrition Day held at the Kirkton/Woodham Community Centre on Thursday.
From left are guest speaker Jim Morris, Shipka area producer John Muller, Crediton area producer
'John Gielen, and customer service manager Brian Bamett.
titethse loot in the
' furrow' •'
Roger George is the vice-
president of the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture and he is -worried.
- Membership has fallen from a
high0 years ago of 26,000 to just
over 21,000 because farmers have
questioned the value of the organi-
zation and adopted the naive view
that they do not need to join the
federation. Many even think they
can trust senior governments to
look after them.
Not so, said Roger when he
spoke to the annual meeting of the'
federation in our county this fall.
"If we fail to fund our farm or-
ganizations adequately, one day
OFA is going to be $125 short of
the price of sending the OFA presi-
dent to Ottawa... That will be very
costly day for farmers, when the
government makes decisions with-
out farmers' input," said Roger. .
He made a few suggestions that
may be worth considering.,
He thinks the federation needs to
broaden its base; in other words,
not necessarily soliciting member-
ships from non -rural people but
getting into spirited dialogue and
co-operation with city dwellers on
a wide range of concerns.
"It is a debate we've got to have,"
he said. "I think we should be
broadening our base to address the
environmental issues that agricul-
ture is vitally interested in."
It will be a tough task but I be-
lieve Roger is right.
This corner has been advocating
the same thing tor 20 years. At one
time - 50 or 60 years ago - almost
everyone had some connections
with farming. They were either liv-
ing on or were born on a farm or
they had an uncle, a cousin, grand-
parents, good friends on a farm.
Not so today.
Less than three percent of the
population is actively engaged in
agriculture today. Most city people
do not know the difference between
a Holstein and a Hereford. In fact, I
talked to an active labor organizer
the other day and he pooh-poohed
the federation. He said most farm-
ers trip over subsidy cheques every
day when they empty their mail-
boxes.
Such cavalier, erroneous ideas
need to be addressed and who bet-
ter to address them than the Onta-
ri' Federation of Agriculture?
But the OFA needs support from
farmers. A $125 -a -year member-
ship fee does not seem exorbitant.
The federation has been seeking
legislation from the province
which wouk. ;ive the OFA an au-
tomatic checkoff when any farm
products are marketed. The idea
sccms sound because every farmer
benefits when a farm organization
is successful in a campaign, The
checkoff would go to general farm
organizations and would be refund-.
able for those who do not want to
be affiliated with the organization.
(Ontario) government of the need
for this (checkoff)," said George.
In fact, he said .permission may
never come because MPPs are not
sure of why the OFA needs a
checkoff.
I have never been too sure of the
long-tcrm philosophy of the check-
off. I am well aware the OFA
needs funding. But an automatic
checkoff would surely remove that
direct contact with members that a
membership fee gives. The execu-
tive members and the hired hands
could get so far away from the
back 40 that they would not know
what was really needed.
On the other hand, the federation
needs money and the refundable
checkoff would be the best solu-
tion, the lesser of two evils, really.
Whatever happens, farmers
should support the federation or
they will be left sucking the hind
teat when it comes to support. I do
not think their city cousins give a
care but the OFA docs.
cb
lad..
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ANG YOUR ODDS
NST
CANADA'S #1 KILLER.
Times -Advocate, December 6, 1989
Page 33
Swine nutrition update
KIRKTON - Kenpal Farm Prod-
ucts rolled out the red carpet
Thursday for about 80 hog farmers
from all over Southwestern Onta-
rio attending a Swine Consultant
Program, featuring presentations
on the care and feeding of pigs.
Jim Morris from the Ridgetown
College of Agricultural Technolo-
gy was the first speaker of the day,
addressing the audience with his
paper on the economics of a high-
performance swine operation.
One of Morris' main observations
is that one opportunity to improve
the efficiency of a hog farm is for
the operator to regulate the opti-
mal level of feeding for his ani-
mals, rather than letting the pig dc-
cide when to stop eating.
Morris suggests that improving
feed efficiency is the most impor-
tant step to take for improving hog
farm profits, followed by control-
ling grading index and days to
market.
Dr. Ken Bryant, a nutritionist
with Carl S. Akey Inc. in Ohio,
explained his work in examining
the relationship of the fat content
of feed to the consumption of
metabolic energy in swine. The
goal is to find a dietery fat content
that does not affect the carcass
quality of the resulting pork.
Dr. Dale Hendrickson, also from
Carl S. Akey, spoke on the uses of
biotechnology to produce pork
that meets current consumer trends
that demand leaner meats. Experi-
ments with porcine somatatropin
(PST, a genetically altered bacte-
ria) have shown that the average
daily weight gain of boars can be
increased by about thee -quarters
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
RURAL ROOTS
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Richmond at Oxford St.
London
Phone 438-8336
of a pound, while at the same time
reducing back{at by nearly a quar-
ter of an inch.
PST, however, is not likely to be
commercially available for several
years.
Brian Barnett, nutritionist and
customer service manager, pre-
sented the Kenpal pig starter pro-
gram, a three-phase system de-
signed to match the changing
nutrient requirements of piglets.
FARMERS
We are now paying $30 to $75
for fresh dead or disabled ani-
mals weighing over 500 lbs.
Sows, pigs, and calves will be
picked up FREE of charge.
7 DAYS A WEEK
CALL;
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or
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