The Rural Voice, 2002-10, Page 22BOYD FARM SUPPLY
RR 6 Owen Sound
519-376-5880
MARQUARDT
FARM DRAINAGE LTD.
(ESTABLISHED 1968)
SPECIALIZING IN:
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■ Erosion Control
WE OFFER:
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MARQUARDT
FARM DRAINAGE LTD.
(ESTABLISHED 1968)
R.R. #3, Palmerston, Ontario
1-888-534-0393
OFFICE 343-3233 HOME 338-2373
STEVE CRONSBERRY (Owner)
18 THE RURAL VOICE
five cents per .100 sheets to 25 cents.
"Someone out there is prepared to
pay five times the price. If you can
brand that stuff youcan brand pigs."
But aside from trying to improve
the product to meet consumer
demands, will the pork be produced
by independent farmers or integrated
companies producing through
contracting or outright ownership of
production?
Dr. Al Mussell of the George
Morris Centre explained that
companies will generally seek to own
the whole value chain for their
product if they feel they need more
control. This may be because they
want to avoid the costs of doing
business on the open market, to
reduce conflict between various parts
of the supply chain or because they
need to reduce variability from
suppliers.
But while integrating helps
decrease conflict in the supply
chain it can also create a lack
of motivation among employees and
that may reduce improvements that
might happen because of self-
employed partners in the chain.
In the long run Mussell said he
didn't feel big companies will try to
control pork production from the
barn to the consumers plate.
Two producers spoke on how they
take part in a contracting situation yet
still feel they are independent
farmers.
Bob Bean of Embro described
how a 2200 -head nursery barn
operated under contract to Future
Pork gave the stability of income to
allow his son to enter the family
business. Previously he had been
operating a 120 -sow farrow -to -finish
farm along with cattle and crops on
his home farm. The nursery was built
on a nearby farm and is managed by
his son.
He said it is difficult to compare
farrow -to -finish and contracting. One
of the advantages of the contracting
situation was that it gave him access
to the best in technology and
.knowledgeable people within the
loop which then "raised the bar" for
his own operation. He recently built a
new 2000 -head finishing barn on the
home farm.
Among the improvements has
been a better bio -security set up with
showers and washing machines in