Huron Expositor, 2007-11-21, Page 10Page 10 The Huron Expositor • November 21, 2007
News
Local pork producers are being hit hard by low
export prices caused by strong Canadian dollar
Donal O'Connor
A group of about 40 farmers meet-
ing in Monkton Sunday was advised
to maintain a positive attitude,
accept that there are some things
over which they don't have control
and ultimately to trust in
God
"If the pig price stays
as
Ys
as it is for another
year, it's going to anni-
hilate a lot of pig farm-
ers," said Brian Ireland
of Teeswater, a former
hog farmer who got out
of farming during an
earlier crisis.
Drawing on his own
experience, he advised
farmers that if things
don't work out on the
farm, there are alter-
natives
He said some farmers
may have to say to their
banker, "She's yours."
But Ireland warned about accept-
ing loans, even from friends or fami-
ly members, that will only end up
with the bank if the farm isn't sus-
tainable. Better to walk away and
leave the problem behind, he
advised.
Ireland's wife Gisele also spoke to
farmers assembled at Monkton
Presbyterian Church for the session
billed as Farmers in Crisis.
"I found it insulting to be told
`You're not efficient enough,'" she
said, recalling the buzzword of the
1970s and since.
"If you build up your strengths
and your attitude and something
(negative) does come in, you're not
going to be floored by it," she said.
She warned against allowing a
financial crunch to
divide families and
suggested partners
avoid blaming each
other for the problems
they may face.
"If you can come out
of that with your fami-
ly intact you have won
the biggest lottery in
the world." A lot of
marriages are in jeop-
ardy when there's a
crisis such as the cur-
rent one, she said.
Both speakers made
rilE21110Th
`If the pig price
stays as it is
for another
year, it's going
to annihilate a
lot of pig
farmers,' --
Brian Ireland,
of Teeswater
j reference to supply
management but
acknowledged that in the '70s, when
the Irelands were traveling around
trying to get producers into supply
management, only about 40 per cent
were in agreement.
In an interview, Bill French, pres-
ident of Perth County Christian
Farmers Federation, recalled his
own experiences in dealing with
bovine respiratory disease, high
interest rates and BSE in past
The federation endorses supply
, management, which continues to be
successful in the
.4110
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dairy industry. It also advocates
moderately sized family farming in
which costs can be more readily con-
trolled as distinct from corporate -
style farming.
"We have become the serfs and
slaves for multinational
tions," said French.
"They paint a rosy
picture, but there are
pitfalls," he said.
Murray Ohm, a
Monkton area beef
farmer, said he had
just sold 620 fat steers
at a loss of $400 per
head.
He said his son
Perry (who attended
the meeting with a
babe in his arms)
wants to continue
operating the farm but
is finding it "awfully
tough."
Speaking for himself,
Perry Ohm said right
now no one is contract-
ing cattle for the spring market
because conditions are so unpre-
dictable.
"Farmers are pretty proud people
and nobody wants to admit to the
problems they are having," he said.
He also pointed to the broader
implications if farmers can't sur-
vive.
"When farmers are making
money, they are spending money,"
he said.
While he wasn't at the meeting,
corpora -
farmer Bruce Bergsma, who repre-
sents pork farmers on the Huron
County Federation of Agriculture,
echoed the overall trend.
"Prices are no hell," he said by
phone from the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture annual meeting in
Toronto earlier this
week.
"Big or small, it
doesn't seem to matter.
We're all hurting, hurt-
ing, hurting," he said.
"When you're losing
money on every pig you
ship out the door, how
long can you afford to
do that?" he said.
One of the things
Bergsma pointed to is
high feed prices,
though he admitted
the grain farmers may
disagree.
"Feed costs are too
high for what we are
receving in return," he
`Big or small, it
doesn't seem
to matter.
We're all
hurting,
hurting,
hurting,' --
Bruce. Bergsma, of
the Huron County
Federation of
Agriculture
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519-524-7261 519-482-3677
www.huronoc.ca
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said.
Another problem is the number of
hogs on the market. Bergsma said
that when you look at how many
are raised and killed in Ontario, the
industry is self-sufficient.
"It's imports that are killing us,"
he said.
The imports are coming from
south of the border.
At the Monkton meeting, Rev.
Henry Huberts, of Seaforth, remind-
ed farmers they have control over
some things but not over other
things and that it doesn't change
anything to worry.
God has an intense interest in
each person's particular circum-
stances, he said.
In an interview after the meeting,
Huberts said that there are farmers
in the Seaforth community who
have been affected by the low prices
in the industry.
"If they were going to grow a pig,
pay for the feed and heat .the barn,
by the time they sell the pig at mar-
ket, the price they receive for it is
way below the price that they've
spent," he said.
Hog and beef farmers are being
hit hard by depressed prices in the
export markets to the U.S, largely
the result of the strong Canadian
dollar.
with files from Aaron Jacklin