The Rural Voice, 2005-09, Page 811
4
4
1
f
PERTH ',folk
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Knowledge and experience
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
Once again it's my turn to submit
an article, 1 can only blame myself
for having to do back-to-back articles
since I chair this committee and set
up the schedule for article
submission. In most cases, writing
my article close to the deadline
actually aids in my creative ideas but
not always. When I am stuck 1 will
go back to previous articles hoping
that in reading published submissions
turns on a light bulb.
The problem with this is that the
other individuals writing articles have
years of experience in agriculture and
the swine industry: 1 on the other
hand do not. Yes, 1 grew up on a farm
and did my chores as required but
back then the thought of farming was
not a priority. With high school done
and college ahead, computers became
my choice of careers and the auto
sector was my place of employment.
It is funny how things can happen
and take you in directions you
sometimes least expect, a relationship
ends, family circumstances change
and the opportunity to return to the
farm becomes a reality.
As I stated in last month's article,
mtdad and I operated a farrow -to -
finish setup initially but like
everything today change occurred
and a decision to replace our setup
with a new finishing operation was
made. I count myself as one of the
lucky ones, not because 1 am farming
but because the family farm was•still
available to come home to. 1 have
come across many individuals who
have wished they could go back to
the farm but it has long since Been
sold or, worse yet. individuals wbo
want to stay on the farm but are
unable to because the financial
resources cannot be secured.
As 1 began to work my way to be
more involved in agriculture and the
swine industry, it was pretty obvious
that Stats Canada was correct on the
average age of those in the farm
sector. 1 found myself routinely
sitting with the parents of people 1
went to school with.
Well. this long-winded story leads
'back to the beginning. 1 get the
Russ Danbrook, President
519-356-2385
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA
privilege of writing this article
because I sit as a director on the Perth
County Pork Producers. I became a
director more out of accident than by
choice: 1 had accompanied my father
to the Perth County Pork Producers
annual meeting where 1 was
approached to let my name stand. I
had been thinking on the way to the
meeting that becoming involved in an
organization such as this would be a
great way to learn more about the
industry. The first meeting I attended
showed just how little I really knew
or just how much there was to know
about what was going on in our
sector of agriculture.
There have been many meetings
where 1 have wondered why anyone
would want to be in this sector of
agriculture and how much simpler
life on the farm seemed when I was
ignorant of issues discussed. As
stated at the beginning of this article
we have a lot of experience and
knowledge both in this organization
and in this sector. that in itself will
always be reassuring.
- Submitted by
Bert .1. t or.stenbasch (Jr)
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
SEPTEMBER 2005 77