The Rural Voice, 1998-11, Page 49PERTH +rifk
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
The challenge of change
Any opinions.expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
On September 30, in a Toronto
hotel meeting room, Ontario pork
producers arrived at another sign post
on the road of change. Serecon
Management Consulting Inc.
presented its document entitled
"Comparison of Marketing Systems
for Ontario Pork". The opening
section of the document' is entitled
"The Challenge of Change" and
contains some interesting insights
into why we are at this point of self-
examination. It also paints a picture
in general terms of a marketing
system that would create a favourable
environment for the production and
marketing of pork.
Most people directly involved in
the hog industry are aware that we
have been reviewing and assessing
our marketing system for almost two
years. The initial phase of this was
carried out by the Ontario Pork
Industry Task Force. Their report was
presented at the March 1998 annual
meeting. Councillors at that meeting
wanted to further assess the pros and
cons of future options and Ontario
Pork then hired Serecon to do just
that.
Serecon's recommendations were
boiled down to two options and the
options are really about the type of
services farmers want from Ontario
Pork and the degree of flexibility
they want in the system. Solution 1
separates marketing services and
universal common good services into
two entities under the direction of
one board. In other words, it would
be similar to what exists now, but
would allow farmers to opt out of
certain programs and the relative fees
if they did not require them. Solution
2 proposes more dramatic change. It
is the creation of a separate,
independent selling agent that would
compete with other agents for
farmers' hogs. Ontario Pork would
continue to provide universal
industry services such as research,
consumer marketing and government
lobbying. A key component of the
second option is the board's authority
to licence marketing agents and
processors and ask that they provide
market and health information on
hogs sold.
There are the proposals in brief.
But why should producers act on
them? And what do others like
processors or potential investors feel?
It seems apparent that many have
viewed the Ontario hog industry as an
industry in decline. In fact the
numbers over the last 10 years bear
this out. In the decade between 1987
and 1997, producers' numbers have
decreased by one half and marketings
by 17 per cent. There is little point in
becoming defensive or trying to
explain why we have lost production
when other jurisdictions have grown.
Valid reasons do exist for the decline,
but we have to deal with the current
reality and try to reverse the trend.
According to Serecon's report, the
pressure of global competition will
intensify and tighten margins for
Ontario producers. (Wonderful news
with pool prices bobbing down
around $1.10/kg.) Marketing boards
across the country have been
pressured to provide greater
flexibility in terms of price discovery
and vertically -co-ordinated linkages.
These linkages in Serecon's words
are believed to provide reduced
John Nyenhriis, President
519-393-6539
The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA
transaction costs. facilitate forward
planning and allow quality control
advantages from base genetics
through to value-added processing. In
Ontario we should be prepared to act,
not necessarily in the same fashion as
other provinces, but in a way that best
meets our needs.
OPPMB chairman, Will Nap, say
that a decision on our future course
will have to be made no later than the
March 1999 annual meeting. The
status quo is not an option. I think
that producer interests should be first
and foremost in evaluating marketing
options. Having said that, Serecon
provides a broader perspective when
it states, "a marketing system that is
perceived to create a pro-business
environment with potential for profit,
will provide motivation to all market
participants. Consequently, a hog
marketing system that fosters co-
operation and trust for the mutual
benefit of all segments of the supply
chain will be a system that provides
the environment for long-term
industry sustainability and growth".
The above quote summarizes what
should be our goal. A consistent
effort to provide motivation to all
industry players is what has been
lacking. This does not mean taking a
back seat as producers; it means that
we will see ourselves prosper as the
industry as a whole prospers. Let's
try to figure out how to best do that.0
— Submitted by Larry Skinner
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:
Fred de Martines (Sebr.) 393-6812
Martin van Bakel (Dublin) 345-2666
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
NOVEMBER 1998 45