2014 - a year when the pork industry rallied to combat PED

Saturday, January 31, 2015

The coming together of producer groups, government and industry in the past year with the common goal of eliminating PED is a blueprint for what can be done to improve our industry when we collaborate

by JOHN DE BRUYN

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…." This fragment of the opening sentence to Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" may be a fair assessment of the conditions for the pork producers of Ontario in 2014.

For those of us resilient enough to survive the lean years of low prices and high feed costs, we were rewarded in 2014 with record high hog prices. This meant that financial stress was finally moved down the list of worries that kept us awake at night. Wasn't it nice to be able to dust off that list of things you would do if you had the money, and finally start getting them done?

The year, however, still started off stressfully enough with all of us continually looking over our shoulders and worrying about the possibility of a new and deadly disease, PED, arriving at our farm. Can you remember where you were on that day in late January when you heard the news that PED had come to a farm in Ontario? Now the threat seemed closer by and the cold weather made for ideal virus survival conditions.

As the long winter continued to be the coldest in recent memory, more of our fellow producers were affected with PED. Biosecurity, biosecurity, biosecurity – how many times we had already heard that word and now we tried to be even more careful to prevent the disease from reaching our farms.

To those producers unfortunate enough to have a sow herd affected by the disease, it seemed at first like the end of the world. Then, several weeks later, when the first piglets seemed like they might finally survive, it looked like order might someday return from the chaos. With all those piglets dying soon after birth, the physical, mental and emotional stress on producers, their families and their staff cannot be underestimated.

Meanwhile, there were so many extra tasks to complete. A plan to eliminate the virus created a complete upheaval of long-established routines. There were so many industry partners to consult, as well as nearby fellow producers to keep informed. And, although to those afflicted it sometimes felt like a lonely road to travel, the industry put in place many plans, protocols and resources to help affected producers, as well as the industry in general, cope with the new reality. As producers, we must commend the effort of our industry partners in making changes to the way they operated their businesses in order to continue to provide service to all producers.

The level of collaboration among all the industry partners is impressive. The coming together of producer groups, government and industry with the common goal of eliminating PED created a "we can do it attitude" that put in place the people, the know-how, the infrastructure and the financial resources to lift all the boats of the pork industry. This effort should be looked at as a blueprint for what can be done to improve our industry when we work together. 

The news in April that one of our long-time processor partners was seeking creditor protection had the potential to throw the logistics of hog deliveries for Ontario producers into chaos. The stress of not knowing when or where to market the next load of hogs was very challenging for many producers. Coupled with first the uncertainty and, over time, the realization that full payment for some hogs already delivered was less and less likely, producers calculated their losses.

But orderly marketing returned to the industry quickly. Producers found ways to get those hogs to new markets. This could not have been accomplished without help from our industry partners. Although the loss of income for producers left a bad taste, the speed at which the market reorganized and reconfigured itself is a testament to the ability of the entire hog industry to adjust to new realities.

As we slow down a bit for winter, reflect on the season that was and make plans for the season to come, remember to thank all those people who contributed to your success. I would also like to challenge you to consider ways in which you, as a producer, can continue to set aside the time and energy to contribute to the collaborative effort that is the Ontario pork industry.

There will be many challenges in the season ahead. Will PED become manageable like circovirus or unpredictable like PRRS? When will we see the next downturn in hog prices? When and how will the shortage of processor capacity in Ontario affect us? Which countries will we be allowed to trade with? These are just a few of the things to ponder as we plan ahead.

If we as an industry continue to collaborate next season as well as we did last season in tackling the problems that will confront us, I believe we will continue to be rewarded with a successful pork industry here in Ontario. I, for one, am proud to be a pork producer in Ontario. BP

John de Bruyn is a farrow to finish hog producer in Oxford County.