'New' pork organization deals with a mix of old and new ideas

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

As more than one speaker noted at Ontario Pork’s annual general meeting, “it’s a new organization.”  There was little debate on most issues but many had come up in the past.

The shrinking number of abattoirs means higher costs for producers and has been a longstanding issue in the meat industry. Impractical regulations and highhanded enforcement often get blamed. Bruce Hudson from Kinburn, in the Ottawa area, told the meeting Muslims have bought as many as 60 abattoirs across the province. “I hate to pick on the Muslim community,” Hudson explained but Muslim ownership means the plants no longer kill pigs.

A late resolution on abattoirs calling on Ontario Pork to lobby provincial authorities to help preserve small abattoirs was carried by a vote of 81 to 6.
Producers want clear labelling for imported products. Canadian Pork Council president

Jurgen Preugschas told the meeting his group, which represents the pork industry nationally, has uncovered breaches of federal regulations requiring country of origin identification on pre-packaged meats. 

Preugschas says grading information is also missing on some meat and notes the problem is particularly noticeable at large retailers in the Windsor-Toronto corridor. Last year Preugschas asked the federal government to intervene. Ontario Pork delegates were handed a copy of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz’s response dated Oct 28, 2010, which says in part: “the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has met with the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors and its members on multiple occasions to discuss the issue.”

An amended Kent county resolution calling for meat labelling improvements carried by a vote of 80 to 5.

Despite last year’s budget cuts and removal of its single desk powers, producers want Ontario Pork to continue some promotions.  A Dufferin Region Pork Producers resolution calling for the organization “to continue to supply and co-ordinate some promotional material,” passed by a vote of 84 to 2.

In 2010 Ontario Pork spent $425,000 on consumer promotion. No amount was fixed in the Dufferin resolution.

A resolution from Grey-Bruce producers calling for a Royal Commission to investigate profits in the food chain was supported by a vote of 59 to 29.

Seventy two producers supported a Perth County resolution to spend $10,000 on a pork version of Project SOY. Fourteen delegates opposed the project. The (Soybean Opportunities for Youth) concept was launched by First Line Seeds at the University of Guelph in 1996 to boost soybean awareness and production. Students can get academic credits and cash awards up to $2,500 for winning projects. Today support comes from industry organizations and includes the federal and provincial governments.

A Waterloo County effort seeking membership for the Ontario Pork Industry Council on the provincial government’s Hog Industry Advisory Committee was defeated by a vote of 62 to 23.

In the traditional board accountability session, held to allow producers to challenge board members, some producers were worried about Ontario Pork’s liability in the event that the new marketing division failed.

Chair Wilma Jeffray explained that the original vision was to have the marketing division completely separate from the so-called universal services organization. She said, over time, the vision changed and the new structure now keeps day-to-day activities of the marketing division secret to make the enterprise competitive with other marketers. She said the marketing division is accountable to Ontario Pork general manager Ken Ovington.

Ideas on pork marketing broached during the accountability session ranged from branding approaches to a need for more participation in social media.

Agriculture minister Carol Mitchell received a warm reception when she addressed the group. Producers were especially attentive as Mitchell spoke about risk management but there was nothing new in her comments which included the usual criticism of the federal government for failing to help fund a program. BF