The Rural Voice, 2002-10, Page 21BUILDER
land costs and environmental
regulations in a small country,
Sorensen said. Land costs about
$18,000 per hectare making it
difficult for young farmers to enter
the business. Still producing pork is
attractive to younger people wanting
to farm because it's such a dynamic
business, Sorensen said. The average
age of Danish pork producers is
about 40.
Someone wanting to get into the
business need only sign a contract
with one of the co-ops agreeing to
deliver all his pigs to the co-op. In
return, the packer agrees to process
all the producer's hogs. There is no
limit to how much he can expand.
Generally environmental
restrictions impose a limit, however.
There's a 300 -metre limit to building
a barn near other buildings.
Generally 1200 sows is the upper
limit of a farm.
T11e ultimate competitive
advantage of Danish pork
producers is that they are used
to dealing with constant change. "We
have to adapt all the time," Sorensen
said. "We've been pushed and
pushed and pushed."
One of the areas where the Danish
Bacon and Meat Council has helped
increase pork exports has been
through branding the product and
ongoing advertising support,
Sorensen explained. It's an area that
also interested Hunsberger. Pork
producers need toget a "branded"
mentality, he argued.
Pork has been sold as commodity
for too long, he argued. Producers
buy branded supplies like genetics
and feed and supplements but "we
combine all these branded products
and we make a commodity we sell to
the processor who makes it into
branded products."
On the other hand look at things
like toilet paper and gasoline, he told
the audience. "I can't think of
anything that's more of a commodity
than toilet paper," he said to laughter
from the audience, "but it's sold as a
brand." On a recent trip to New York
state he spent some time shopping in
a Walmart with his wife and saw
huge shelves dedicated to different
brands of toilet paper, but how many
different things can you do with toilet
paper to differentiate your product,
he asked. Still the price ranged from
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OCTOBER 2002 17