Cover Story

That’s the question facing Ontario Pork – and by extension producers – as it assesses the costs and benefits of moving to FOB plant pricing

by DON STONEMAN

In the face of so many marketing issues, transporting pigs to market may seem the least of considerations for producers. Yet it is emblematic of the changes and challenges that they will confront as the industry moves toward more choice in selling hogs.

Producers, packers and retailers are starting to respond to consumer demands for specialty pork. But the industry is still far from the potential 15 to 20 per cent of provincial pork production that industry experts believe could go to niche markets

by DON STONEMAN & MARY BAXTER

For old-order Amish and Mennonite farmers in western Ontario’s hog belt who still raise pigs like they did 50 years ago, there is a modern-day payoff.

There are six major factors affecting the Ontario hog industry, say watchers of     the commodity hog production scene.

Currency: the exchange rate between the Canadian and U.S. dollars.
Based strictly on price, Canadian pork is tough to sell in international markets and is even being displaced in Canada by cheap American pork. There is no sign that the Canadian dollar is going to weaken any time soon. Nor is the American dollar getting stronger as that country continues to pile up deficits and economic concerns grow.

by DON STONEMAN

1. The Hunsbergers of Breslau - Early Retirement under pressure from the dollar

Industry prognosticator, producer-processor-promoter, controversial columnist, and some might say visionary, Bob Hunsberger has been a pork producer for 38 years. But likely not much longer. He shipped the last of his 300 sows in mid-winter.

A combination of economics and environmental regulations make small to medium-sized hog operations in the American Midwest more competitive with the pork-producing giants, says a specialist in global development and the environment. Whether Ontario’s pork producers will also benefit is not so clear

by DON STONEMAN

Demand for corn to make ethanol means that the good times are over for pork integrators in the United States. Will that translate into prosperity at some time in the future for today’s hard-pressed Ontario pork producers? Opinions are divided.

Some experts say ‘Yes’ and are calling for substantial changes to the code, including mandatory wall-to-ceiling firewalls in hog barns
by MARY BAXTER

Old habits can die hard and no one knows this better than Colleen Wiendels.

Often, before getting into bed at night, she’ll glance down the road from the home she shares with her husband Nick and three daughters near Poplar Hill, just north of London, to check for the yard light on their barn. She does this, even though it’s more than a year since the light was in operation.