The Rural Voice, 1988-12, Page 78PERTH
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Gordon Jack, R. R. 1, Newton
595-8422
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA
SWINE Al ASSOCIATION
Phil Anwender of the Ontario Swine
AI Association attended the latest
PCPPA meeting to inform us about the
status of the OSAIA and to see if we
would be interested in contributing
through the purchase of their deben-
tures. Their goal is to raise $100,000
through debentures, which come in in-
crements of $250 at 9 per cent interest.
The Swine Al Association directors
and manager Bill Freeman are to be
commended for the improvements they
have made to their organization's finan-
cial picture. They have effectively re-
duced costs to about the break-even
point but are still saddled with a high
debt load from previous years of losses.
Money raised through the debentures
will go towards paying this debt and will
result in less pressure on their cash flow.
Improvements have also been made
in other areas: the use of a better ex-
tender is raising conception rates, semen
quality control has been improved,
semen volume per service has been
increased, pooled semen is available at
$15 per service, and Estimated Breeding
Value information can be used by pro-
ducers to get the semen that will be of the
greatest benefit to their particular herd.
The OSAIA has certainly "bitten the
bullet" in an effort to keep this service
available. We are very fortunate to have
dedicated people willing to do this, and
support of this organization is an invest-
ment in the future of the swine industry.
The PCPPA voted to lend the OSAIA
$1,000. What Swine AI really needs is
more producers giving it a try and be-
coming regular users. Artificial insemi-
nation can be an excellent management
tool for today's commerical producer.
Call 539-5636 for more information.
OPPMB MARKETING
About a year ago the OPPMB hired
Peter Daly to be a liaison between the
board and the retailer and packing in-
dustry. We had a chance to talk to Peter
at our meeting. So far he has spent most
of his time with the meat retailers. This
year he will have put on 22 retail semi-
nars, with 675 people attending, mostly
from the corporate independents (i.e.
stores like Mr. Grocer, Valu -Mart, etc.).
These seminars show retailers how
76 THE RURAL VOICE
they can raise their gross margin on pork
by improving cutting and presentation.
Gross margins on meat average about 20
per cent, but there is a potential to raise
this to 50 per cent with no extra labour.
Research has shown that 80 per cent
of the decisions on which meat a con-
sumer buys are made on impulse at the
meat counter. An attractive pork dis-
play is very important. Pork is the high-
est contributor to profit in the meat
counter. With the information given at
these seminars, pork retailing can be
made even more profitable. A seminar
is not put on for a group until it gives a
commitment to have several weeks of
pork specials in its stores. The reaction
to the seminars has been very positive.
This brings me to the next topic, pork
quality. After all, if the board is going to
trouble and expense to improve cutting
and merchandising, retailers must be
provided with a top quality carcass to
work with. And consumers are becom-
ing increasingly discriminating.
PORK QUALITY SEMINAR
As mentioned in the last newsletter,
the PCPPA has initiated plans for a
seminar focussing strictly on pork qual-
ity and how some of our management
and feeding practices affect the final
product. We have been fortunate to
have Mark Youngblut, our OPIIP advi-
sor, helping us with this.
Because of the number of important
topics we wanted to cover it was neces-
sary to have this seminar over two days.
Day 1 is Tuesday, January 17 and Day 2
is Tuesday, January 24. Topics are:
Day 1:
• The effects of feeding whole
roasted soybeans on pork quality (Dr.
Ron Usbome, University of Guelph),
• PSE pork (Dr. Ron Ball, Guelph,
and Andre Fortan, Agriculture Canada),
• Drug residues: the effects on the
Ontario pork industry (Dr. Paul Shad -
bolt, Agriculture Canada),
• The movement of hogs within the
Ontario selling system (Helmut
Loewen, OPPMB),
• A panel discussion.
Day 2:
• Growth hormones: their future use
(Dr. Ron Ball, Guelph),
• The Japanese market (an excellent
video prepared by OMAF),
• The U.S. market for Ontario pork
(John Lichti, director, OPPMB),
• Panel discussion on the topic "Are
we producing the pork product the in-
dustry and consumers want?" —
chaired by Dr. Gordon Bowman and
including panelists from the packing in-
dustry, OPPMB, a dietician, a retailer,
and an HRI trade member.
We expect to have responses from
the packing/processing industry
throughout both days.
For ease of planning we have de-
cided there will be no tickets sold at the
door. Tickets will be available by ad-
vance registration at the OMAF office in
Stratford or from your local PCPPA
director. This is an excellent lineup of
speakers. Producers always seem to
have many questions about quality and
the pork marketing process. This is your
chance to get those questions answered.
All producers are urged to attend.
SOYBEAN MEAL PROTEIN
The protein levels in soybean meal
seem to be increasingly variable. If the
level is 1 per cent or more below what it
is supposed to be you are entitled to a
pro -rated rebate from the supplier. One
load of supposedly 48 per cent meal
tested 45 per cent, so it could be worth-
while to get a refund. If you suspect a
problem, take a representative sample,
have it tested, and talk to your supplier.
EDUCATION
Perth's Foundation for the Enrich-
ment of Education has asked the PCPPA
to participate in their program to bring
the story of farm Life to the classroom. It
appears that this will be along the same
lines as what we have already been
doing with our involvement in Agricul-
ture in the Classroom. We welcome any
opportunity to promote agriculture.
ONTARIO PORK CONGRESS
The OPC is sponsoring a travel fel-
lowship to help develop technical and
leadership skills in people engaged in
the Ontario pork industry and to keep the
Ontario industry informed of innovative
industry practices in other countries. To
be eligible, you must be engaged in
some aspect of the pork industry. For
details, contact the OPC, P. O. Box 61,
Stratford, Ont., N5A 6S8 (615 4R1 1' 0