HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-11-02, Page 6Ontario pork industry expected to
head for a downturn incoming years
Don Crosby
For Postmedia
The pork Industry in
Ontario is in a cyclical
downturn.
"As farmers we know that
it's going to be more chal-
lenging for the next six
months... there'll be loses for
sure and next summer it will
get a little bit better," said
Amy Cronin, president of
Ontario Pork Producers.
Cronin was the guest
speaker at the Bruce County
Federation of Agriculture's
annual meeting in Under-
wood on Oct. 28, 2016.
"It's a volatile tough indus-
try to be in sometimes... and
approximately every four
years we go through a down-
turn," she said. "This one
comes because there are all
kinds of global factors that
impact price and right now
some of them are quite neg-
ative and unfortunately for
Ontario that impacts their
hog producers."
While demand for pork is
on the rise there is also more
supply worldwide which
puts a downward slide on
prices. Some U.S. producers
are ramping up production
as a result of new processing
plants south of the border.
"That's fantastic except it
means there are a lot of hogs
out there and the price goes
down," said Cronin, who
doesn't think Ontario pro-
ducers will return to
exporting to the U.S. market
in a big way.
They were shut out by the
2013 American country of
origin labelling (COOL) pol-
icy that mandated beef and
pork cuts be labelled with
where the meat was born,
raised and slaughtered.
The policy gave U.S. pro-
ducers preferential treat-
ment. It was overturned by
the World Trade Organiza-
tion ruling in 2015.
Cronin said Ontario's
1,500 producers have
become quite well estab-
lished here in the province in
recent year so that there are
fewer hogs going into the
U.S. market for slaughter.
"We're not seeing that
many more going south of
the border because they are
using the markets that they
have established here over
the last few years," she said.
Cronin said supply is also
partly being restricted by a
lack of processing capacity
in Ontario. Hogs are being
sent to Quebec for slaughter
where there is excess pro-
cessing capacity.
Kristian Sol is a Bruce
County pork producer near
Kincardine who predicts that
a new code of practice for
housing sows are which
comes into effect in 2021 will
increase producer costs and
force some out of business.
He said by 2021 gestation
stalls for pregnant sows will
be phased out and replaced
letter to the editor
Reader rejects redefinition of parentage
terms proposed by province
Dear Editor,
Our Ontario Liberal gov-
ernment is once more trying
to push through their
agenda with a minimum of
notice and public input.
This time they are trying to
pass Bill 28, which is the Chil-
dren's Law Reform Act, the
Vital Statistics Act and other
acts respecting parentage. In
this legislation, they plan to
remove the words "mother"
and "father" and substitute
them with words like "birth
parent" or "person."
This is supposedly being
done to modernize the defi-
nition of families and bring
equality to everyone. I quote
from a letter I wrote to my
MPP. "I fully believe that in a
free society, we each should
respect one another, whether
we agree with them or not. In
my opinion, this is just one
more example of a very vocal
minority trying to run rough-
shod over the majority who
do not share their views. This
minority, though it claims to
be promoting equality for all,
is actually making it very dif-
ficult, and even impossible at
times, for the majority to
express or live out their
views"
If you want to protect the
definition of "mother" and
"father'; I urge you to con-
tact your MPP and ask he or
she to do all in their power
to stop the passage of this
act.
Sheila Dawson
Wingham
by loose housing, which pro-
vides more room for the pigs
to freely move around.
"It means they can move
around in the barn with each
other instead of being locked
up all day," he said.
Sol said the renovations to
pig barns will be extensive
and costly.
"You're going to have to go
in and gut it to the studs and
completely rebuild your
barn, including feed lines
and penning and water sys-
tems," he said. "There are
some barns out there that
you might as well shut them
down rather than redo them
on the inside."
Sol predicts that some
older producers who are
nearing retirement will opt
to shut down their opera-
tions, rather than make the
huge investment needed to
meet the new regulations.
"Unless they have some
family member like a son or
daughter who will take over;
there will be some who are
leaving in the next four to
five years," he said
Cronin said it's too early to
tell what effect the Canadian
trade deal - Comprehensive
Economic and Trade Agree-
ment ( CETA) between Can-
ada and the European Union
will have on the pork indus-
try. It could take up to seven
years to implement the
agreement and may mean
some changes will be needed
to meet European standards.
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 5
Don Crosby photo
Amy Cronin, president of the Ontario Pork Producers, was guest speaker at the Bruce County
Federation of Agriculture's annual meeting on Oct. 28, 2016.
"I would like to think that
there will be an opportunity
for our industry, I know it
won't be immediate and it
may mean we do things in a
different way to cater a new
and different market," she
said.
Elections for the Bruce
County Federation of Agricul-
ture's executive resulted in Les
Nichols becoming president
for another year. Ken Bridge is
first vice president and John
Rodgers is second vice presi-
dent, and office administrator
Jackie Pennings is the secre-
tary treasurer.
Lancers comeback falls
short against Shallow Lake
Dickie Dunn
Contributor
After a big win against
defending champs Clinton,
Lucknow looked to build
off it against the Crushers.
An early goal for the
Lancers showed the Lanc-
ers picked up right where
they left off. However
three unanswered goals
by Shallow Lake was a
huge gut check for our
Boys in Red.
The Lancers were able to
get three of their own in the
second period, but not
before the Crushers were
able to put two more
behind goaltender Tyler
Kuehl.
After a Shallow Lake goal
early in the third, the
Lancers again pulled to
within one. A barrage of
shots towards the Shallow
Lake net in the dying
moments were to no avail
as Lucknow was handed its
second loss of the season,
the final score 6-5.
"This is a game that
proves that you can't take a
game off against anyone in
this league," Head Coach
Steve Simpson following
the game.
"We battled back just like
we had almost every game
this year, but we have to
stop putting ourselves in
that situation."
The Lancers are on the
road next Saturday, as they
head into Brussels to take
on the Huron East
Centenaires.
SUDOKU
THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE SPONSORED BY
Mitchell Twolan,
Broker of Record
Lake Range Realty Ltd. Brokerage
3430 Concession 2, Point Clark Office: 519-395-3959
R.R.1 Kincardine, Ontario N2Z 2X3 Toll crLi e-519-955-3669
Direct Lne: 519-955-0664
www. lakerangerealty.ca
4
7
9
8
8
5
7
L
3
L
Z
17
1
L
9
8
£
8
17
4
9
9
9
6
Z
9
b
4
5
9
L
9
8
6
L
Z
8
L
17696
7
2
9
9£
8
2
8
Z
9
b
LL
5
2
L£
Z
6
j
4
99
17
6
9
3
5
8
1
Z
9
3
9£
9
6
L
7
ANSWER
L
9
9
6
8
Z£
7
L
6
L
Z
17
9£
L
9
8
£
8
17
L
L
9
9
6
Z
9
b
L£
9
L
Z
8
6
L
Z
8
L
17696
9
9£
6
8
Z
9
b
LL
8
L£
Z
6
j
L
99
17
6
9
9
LL
8
Z£
Z
9
L
9£
8
6
L
17
Level: Intermediate
To solve
a Sudoku puzzle, every number
from 1 to 9 must appear in:
• Each of the nine vertical columns
• Each of the nine horizontal rows
• Each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes
• Remember, no number can occur
more than once in any row, column
or box