Who speaks for producers on sow gestation stalls?

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Better Pork's December cover story prompted an angry response from one reader. Here's what he had to say

by ROBERT IRWIN & DON STONEMAN

The cover story in Better Pork's December issue caused a stir. It was about sow gestation stalls and the National Farmers Union (NFU) in Manitoba joining with an activist group to have them banned by 2017. The matter was going to be discussed at a national NFU convention in London.   

The article featured Ridgetown producer Rock Geluk, an organic producer and a member of the NFU, on the cover of the magazine. Geluk essentially agreed with the Manitoba effort.

We heard from one reader who simply called the article "stupid." But the story also provoked Leamington producer Kevin Kimball to sit down at his computer with a more thoughtful critique.

Kimball writes:

Dear Better Pork Editor,

I am quite disappointed that you would give print to the article on sow housing in the December 2011 issue of Better Pork. Everyone is aware of animal rights groups putting pressure on animal housing and especially dry sow stalls.

On our farm, going from loose housing to dry sow stalls was the best thing we ever did. In 1978, we built a barn with dry sow stalls and breeding pens and immediately saw an increase in litter size and reduced sow injuries and mortalities.

We replaced that barn with a new dry sow facility in 2004 and it includes dry sow stalls and breeding stalls. It is just remarkable how well they love their own stall as they actually will run from group pens to stalls and when you try to pen them together they fight you and each other. I cringe when we have to group-house sows in pens as the boss sow will not even let some eat. As an industry, we will never be able to convince these groups of the benefits of stalls, so I won't even go there.

You have to agree with Crystal Mackay, executive director of Farm & Food Care Ontario, that you change your practices for marketing reasons and not "because of noisy pressure."

The real issue with the article is with Rock Geluk's statements. He may believe in the organic movement but in no way does he speak for pork producers. Geluk talks of "crowding as many animals in a space as possible," "sows are crammed into barns until they don't produce as many pigs," "feeder pigs are added to barns until they don't grow as fast." Lastly, Geluk is saying "when those key production numbers fall, the animals must be suffering."

I sure hope he is not representative of NFU thinking or other organic producers. You don't build market share bad-mouthing other production methods. Geluk's statements are very misleading and should have been severely edited, as I don't know one single producer in Ontario who does not put the welfare of their animals ahead of any financial gains.

Oliver Haan (a pork board director and also an NFU member) did give a very balanced approach and a realistic time line of at least 2025 as a phasing out deadline.

Shortly after our story appeared, Rock Geluk wrote back to us as follows:
 
Nice article!! It'll give farmers something to really think about. I actually missed the day that the resolution was brought up at the NFU convention (due to corn harvesting) and I don't know yet how they voted.  

I don't know how pig farmers reacted to the article yet, but my mailbox is still standing so around here, that's a good sign!

Needless to say, I think that most farmers expect this gestation stall ban to happen sooner or later anyway. Ironically, I'm looking into buying a bunch of gestation stalls for feeding. They won't be locked up or anything, but it will make floor feeding easier and not allow the "bully" sows to eat everything.

According to NFU Ontario Co-ordinator Ann Slater, an amended resolution passed at the national conference calls for the NFU to "petition all relevant levels of government to pass legislation banning the use of sow stalls." There was no deadline mentioned.

At the end of all this, questions remain. It's not likely that the industry will stay the same. But how will change be guided? Will change be driven by the industry, by regulators, or by customers?

We would like to hear your thoughts. Please write or call us. BP