The Rural Voice, 1992-02, Page 48PERTH rtk
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Vince Hulshof, President
R. R. 1, Sebringville, NOK 1X0 393-5586
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA
FARMGATE INCREASE LAGS BEHIND RETAIL PRICE BOOST
FARMERS GET 8 CENTS MORE FOR PORK;
STORES GET $2.16
The retail price of centre cut pork chops increased by $2.16 or 49 per cent over
the past ten years, whereas the farmgate price of dressed hogs edged up only 8
cents — that's a 6 per cent increase over a full decade.
Pork
$/kg dressed weight (Can.)
10.00$
7.50
5.54
5.00
Pork Chops, Retail
7.70
Hogs, Farmgate
2.501.30 1.38
0.00
1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990
The information from Agriculture Canada and Statistics Canada shows the same
trend as most other commodities: the farm price of a kilogram of dressed pork
remained almost the same throughout the eighties, but the retail price increased
significantly.
A decade ago, the retail price was four times the farmgate price. Now it is 6.6
times the farm price.
Pork farmers deserve a better share of the Canadian food dollar.
The foregoing is a page from the
pamphlet "Compare the Share: Farm -
gate – Retail" prepared and distributed
by the Hon. Ralph Ferguson, MP
(Lambton-Middlesex). The average
yearly retail price increase for pork is a
little less than 4 per cent, which would
indicate that retailers are not taking ex-
cessive yearly increases since that rate
would barely be keeping up with infla-
tion. It is necessary for retailers to make
some profit in order to stay in business
44 THE RURAL VOICE
and keep the retail sector competitive.
On the other hand, farmgate prices
for hogs increased on average .7 per
cent per year over the same time period.
This obviously does not come near the
rate of inflation.
Ferguson's pamphlet contains simi-
lar information on other commodity
and food prices. It provides solid fig-
ures which can be used to show ur-
banites and politicians that farmers are
definitely not the ones benefitting from
what they might think are high food
prices.
PRODUCER REGISTRATION
All pork producers should know
that the OPPMB is requiring every
producer to re -register to obtain a new
registration number and plastic identi-
fication card. Forms were sent to all
producers in October but not all pro-
ducers have completed and sent them
back to the Board. The deadline for re -
registration has been extended to Feb-
ruary 29 after which time you will not
be able to ship hogs using your old
number. Processing applications for a
new number will take up to two weeks.
Producers can ship hogs after March 1st
if they do not have a new number but
payment cannot be made until a new
number is assigned. The Board is
mailing out more forms to those who
have not re -registered. They are also
available at assembly yards and from
truckers. If you can't remember if you
have sent your forms back, phone the
Board at 1-416-621-1574 and ask for
Producer Services.
CURLING BONSPIEL
The Perth County Pork Producers'
Annual Bonspiel will be held in St.
Marys on Wednesday, February 12. If
you want to enter a team, call Mike
Zurbrigg at 284-2740.
AG WEEK
Perth County Ag Week is being
held February 18, 19 & 20 at the Strat-
ford Coliseum. Gordon Bowman will
speak on Pork Day, February 19.0
Pork Products
are available from:
Wayne Hartung 291-4038
Fred De Martines 393-6812
Carol Rock 345-2666
Alfred Young 348-9352
Dennis Zehr 595-4771