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The Rural Voice, 1998-01, Page 57PERTH County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER Walter Bosch, President 519-356-9000 ' The Rural Voice is provided to Perth County Pork Producers by the PCPPA. Nutrient management plans and more Any opinions expressed herein may not necessarily reflect the views of the Perth Cowuy Pork Producers' Association. Well, as 1 begin writing this newsletter, 1997 is just about finished. In our area most of the field work is finished and the equipment is put away for another year. For all of us in the pork industry, 1997 will be remembered as one of the better years. At our last regular meeting our guest speaker was Pat Lynch who is a senior agronomist with Cargill. Pat shared with us some very interesting comments concerning Nutrient Management Plans. First of all, Nutrient Management Plans are here to stay, because we need them to protect our environment and to control smell. Pat also pointed out that we need a lot of time to allow researchers to fmd answers to questions such as: Application method — What is the best way to reduce smell and yet gain the most nutrients without contaminating our water supply? Rate/acre — What is the proper rate for all the various soil types and application methods? Timing — What is the best time to apply manure, before we plant our crops to reduce fertilizer cost, or during the summer and/or fall to reduce compaction. Looking at timing from a smell point of view, could you imagine if farmers were only allowed three weeks in the spring and three weeks in the fall to spread manure? In my opinion the smell would be more of a problem as everyone will have to empty their pits at the same time. Tiled vs. non -tiled land — What is the correct rate for tiled vs. non -tiled land, how fast does manure get down into the tiles? Phosphate and potash levels — What levels are too high? For example, here in Ontario we consider a phosphate level over 60 on a soil test to be high. In Ohio, they consider anything over 150 on the same soil test to be high. The same thing with potash — we consider anything over 250 to be high while out west a level of 800 would be acceptable. Nitrogen levels — According to Pat this is the important one. In the future, we will see more regulations based on nitrogen levels in the soil. Soil absorptive capabilities — Various soil types will have various absorptive capabilities. Past told us that it will take years to learn how to accurately measure this. Bacteria levels — What kinds and levels of bacteria are coming out of tiles? So as you can see there are a lot of unanswered questions. It was also mentioned that a Nutrient Management Plan should include the following: 1) manure should be analyzed so you know what's in it; 2) an unbiased soil sample — nobody will believe you if you do it yourself; 3) grid samples; 4) historical records; 5) record various application information; 6) record yields; 7) use accredited labs. As producers we have to keep elected officials and public employees informed about what we are doing to address the problems associated with our business. Pat also made the comment that court battles should be dragged on for years and years so researchers have time to come up with answers backed up by research data. And finally, we as farmers have to quit fighting and complaining among ourselves. We have to get on the same side of the fence and be one large unified voice. I can assure you we will have enough problems to solve with non - farmers so let's get together on these issues. I'd like to report that APHIN has not been scrapped. There have been some problems at one of the processing plants and Ontario pork is currently working to resolve these problems. During the first week of December, Ontario Pork held several regional meetings across the province. During these meetings, councillors received a lot of interesting and informative information and had a chance to participate in round table discussions. We received an updated report from the Ontario Pork Industry Marketing Task Force. In my opinion this task force has so far done an excellent job in gathering information and giving everyone a chance to have input. In June of '97 they visited the midwestem states of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and in the latter part of September they visited Manitoba and Alberta. In all three areas hogs are marketed differently so strengths and weaknesses were pointed out to councillors. In August all producers and/or producer groups had a chance to send in written submissions to the task force and meetings were set up so we could discuss our written submissions with the task force. In September all producers were supposed to have received a survey which covered ala kinds of questions regarding your operation and your views on various marketing related questions. All the information was summarized and a preliminary summery was presented to all councillors in attendance at these regional meetings. This was valuable information and I would strongly encourage each and every one of you to look over this information when it is made public to you. At our regional meeting we also discussed Ontario Pork's Marketing Initiatives. As of one week prior to the strike at Maple Leaf, the auction system has been shut down. The auction hogs are being sold at 97 per cent of the formula price FOB Ontario. The hogs that were normally being slaughtered at Maple Leaf are going — (roughly) 40 per cent south to the U.S., 40 per cent east to Quebec and 20 per cent staying here in Ontario. It's unfortunate that this stnke has to cost us producers so much money. Leis hope the New Year will bring some good news in this area. Contracts at Ontario Pork have increased dramatically over the past couple of years so processors are getting a large percentage of their hogs guaranteed to them so bidding for hogs on the auction has decreased dramatically. One of the reasons for increased contracts from the producers' side is because of the large capital investment involved with today's modem hog operation. Ontario Pork is looking at selling large blocks of hogs similar to the 10,000 hog contract that was tendered out when the Schneider's kill line was shut down. Other marketing alternatives available to producers are based on specific processors buying programs e.g. different weight ranges and certain window contracts. So as you can see our Pork Industry continues to change at a very fast pace. Hopefully there is a place for all of us.0 submitted by John N Nyenhuis Just a reminder .. . Perth County Pork Producers Curling Bonspell February 7, 1998 Perth County Pork Producers ANNUAL MEETING Thursday, January 29, 1998 Machell & District Community Centre Mitchell, ON 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. — Social 6:30 p.m. — dinner served Guest Speaker — Kevin Stewart Tickets available from any Perth County Director. PERTH COUNTY PORK PRODUCERS' PORK PRODUCTS • Smoked Pork Chops • Fresh Pork Chops • Stuffed Loin Chcps • Smoked Sausage • Smoked Cheddar Sausage • Bacon Burgers • Teriyaki Pork Steaks • Vinono's 880 Sauce AVAILABLE FROM: Fred de Marlines (Sebr.) 393-6812 Martin van Bakel (Dublin) 347-2666 Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000 Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836 JANUARY 1998 53