The Rural Voice, 2003-08, Page 64i
PERTH 11'R
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Pat Louwagie, President
519-393-6424
• The Rural Voices provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA
Think through consequences of any BSE retaliation
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
As I was trying to think up
something worth submitting as my
article, I heard yet another talk about
the ongoing impact of the mad cow
disease of the beef industry on the
TV news. They referred to farmers
putting their expansion on hold and,
worse yet, farmers who just hoped to
survive and keep farming. I was
recently talking to another dad at my
son's soccer game. He was recalling
when he went to pick up his cheque
for the cattle he had just sold. The
statement that he had received about
$600 a head less than expected was
distressful, but what really hit home
was his comment about an older
gentleman sitting in the corner crying
over payment for his cattle.
I did not even need to be there in
person to feel a ping in my chest. My
own imagination brought forth
pictures of the end of a way of life, a
farmer not able to pay the bills, the
potential Toss of a family farm were
just a few quick images that came to
mind.
What does this have to do with
myself? I am a hog farmer, not a beef
farmer. Only a few years ago the hog
industry too was thrown for a loop
when the price of pork plummeted. I
did not hear any stories like the one
above, but I do know for a fact that
there are fewer hog farmers today
due to that price drop.
Where am I going with this? Well,
for a long time I never gave
government a lot of thought. My
father was involved in the local
government so I chose to let him deal
with it. Since we built our finishing
operation six years ago, 1 have been
forced to be Tess complacent. Even
though my father dealt with most of
the political problems to the
resolution of us finishing the building
project, 1 have become more aware of
the ramifications to political
decisions.
With that I jump to the whole
point of the article. The beef industry
is waiting for the U.S. market to
reopen to Canadian beef, which in
turn will not reopen because Japan is
threatening to ban U.S. beef if the
U.S. accepts Canadian beef. Wow,
say that twice fast.
We have political leaders in the
West making noise about wanting
trade sanctions — U.S. and Japan open
your borders or else. This at first
sounded to me like a good idea. The
next thing that came to mind was,
what if they retaliate and this
escalates into a trade war with both
the US and Japan. Then what? Being
in the hog industry, I am fully aware
of the importance of exporting our
pork and what could happen if we
were unable to export our product.
Yes you are right, this is only a
fear and will probably never happen
but my point here is that our
governments at all levels need to be
aware of the consequences of their
potential actions and lack of action.
What looks like a good idea for one
sector could in turn send other sectors
reeling. We are already starting to see
changes to the hog industry due to the
mad cow discovery. Make sure
consultations occur so the correct
action can be taken.
I hope that the borders to our
Canadian beef open soon but just like
the drop in the pork prices a few
years ago, when the markets reopen
there will be few less farmers
operating. All livestock operators will
be impacted by this development
directly and indirectly. Each sector
will have new issues such as animal
disposal, and content of animal feed
which will need to be addressed.
Stay tuned, it will probably be
months before the true cost of this
one case of Mad Cow becomes clear
on Canadian agriculture.0
— Submitted by Bert J. Vorstenbosch
PERTH COUNTY PORK PRODUCERS'
PORK PRODUCTS
• Smoked Pork Chops • Fresh Pork Chops
• Stuffed Loin Chops • Smoked Sausage
• Smoked Cheddar Sausage
• Bacon Burgers • Teriyaki Pork Steaks
• Vittorio's BBQ Sauce
AVAILABLE FROM:
Steve Hulshof (Kinkora) 348-8167
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
AUGUST 2003 61