The Rural Voice, 2002-10, Page 23each barn and uniforms never leaving
the building.
As 'well he has been inspired to
improve the genetics of his herd to
meet the needs of the market place.
Srots Utter of Norwich described
how he became involved with
Synergy Systems of Listowel
when he wanted to improve his
operation. In 1999 he and his father
had 1300 acres of crops growing
corn, soybeans, wheat and edible
beans. operating a grain elevator and
trucking and combining operations
and feeding their grains to their 100 -
sow farrow -to -finish operation. By
2002 they were farming 1500 acres
and had expanded with a 2000 -head
finishing barn. The finishing barn is
independent of his father's operation
but they work together, he said.
The agreement with Synergy
allows him the flexibility to buy
feeders from good genetic stock,
Utter said while still feeding his own
grains. They buy supplements from
Molesworth Farm Supply.
A bonus in the system is having
access to the expertise of people like
Dr. Cathy Templeton. Also welcome
is the sense of team support. "It
became difficult in 1998 to feel you
weren't fighting an uphill battle all
on your own," he remembered of the
price collapse that hit the industry.
"There's a lot more team support
when you work in a system with a
group of people."
Utter is currently building a new
barn and it will be contracted with
Synergy at least for the beginning to
spread the risk of the investment.
One speaker who has nothing to
do with the pork business caused
possibly more questions than any
other. Jim Dixon of Dixon TimBr
Mart in Fergus described how TimBr
Mart operates as a co-operative
buying group, allowing smaller
lumber yards to take advantage of
volume buying power while
remaining independent.
Perhaps leaving producers, hard
hit by recent low prices, to go home
feeling good Jim' Long of Wood
Lynne International Farms in
Lambeth, breeder of the Bacon -
Maker line gave his opinion that the
current downturn won't last as long
as expected and that Canada is well
positioned to compete for the
international market.
Canada and the U.S. are the low-
cost producers in the world but
Canada has advantages over its
neighbour, Long said. For one thing,.
Canada produces one to one and a
half more pigs per sow per year
because of better genetics and
management.
Our management is better because
Canada's high unemployment rate
makes it easier to get good workers
here than south of the border. "On
average we're able to get better
people than U.S. producers. They're
better educated and we get them for
less money."
Canadian producers also came out
of the 1998 collapse in better shape
financially because they got
government help, he said. The U.S.
aid programs are generally aimed at
crop production and despite all the
talk about their higher subsidies.
higher crop prices this year will mean
smaller payouts.
The supply management system
here benefits pork production
because people with good incomes
can afford to get out of milk or
chickens and invest in top-quality
pork facilities, Long said. In the U.S.
there are harsh cycles in these
commodities.
Ontario is also attracting
investment and expertise from
Europe that the U.S. isn't, he said.
"That's a dynamic that is driving
forward the Ontario industry."
It's also easier to get permission
to build a new barn here than in the
U.S. where local municipalities have
more power, Long said. Our lower
dollar is also helping.
As for the downturn, Long
pointed out the correction in
the market may not have to
be as great at in 1998. Between 1997
and 1998, the last up -cycle, U.S.
production rose 9.2 per cent.
Between 2001 and 2002 it rose only
2.4 per cent. "It's a lot easier to
compensate for 2.4 than 9.2 per
cent."
As well. USDA predictions show
that a high in the beef cycle could
match a high in the pork cycle next
year for the first time in 30 years
with 1.5 billion less pounds of beef
available in 2003 than in 2002. "1
feel very good that the survivors of
the fall of this year will have good
prices next year." he said.0
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OCTOBER 2002 1