December 14, 1998
Government intervention sought
The National Pork Producers Council's (NPPC) warning Friday to Canadians to halt hog shipments to the United States is being taken very seriously by Ontario Pork chair Will Nap. He has asked the Ontario government to halt the strike at Quality Meat Packers, which since December 6, has left the pork board scrambling to find new markets for 25,000 pigs normally processed there.Today Nap, who terms the situation "so different from anything we've ever faced before," is sending a letter requesting a meeting with premier Mike Harris over the issue. He now estimates 15,000 hogs which should have been slaughtered were held on farms last week.
In an effort to keep inventories current over Christmas, producers often ship more hogs, at lighter weights, in the weeks before Christmas. That may be contributing to recent heavy runs as well as the fact that by shipping early cash strapped producers need less feed.
Nevertheless Nap fears the number of hogs held on farms will increase leading to "a disaster from an animal welfare point of view."
Although the NPPC warning was addressed to Canadian Pork Council chairman Edouard Asnong and aimed at western provinces too, "we (Ontario producers) take the brunt of any reaction," says Nap.
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December 11, 1998
Trouble looms between U.S. and Canadian pork producers
U.S. and Canadian pork producers appear to be on a collision course. In a press release today the National Pork Producers Council has once again called on Canada to slow the flow of Canadian hogs to U.S. slaughter plants.Tonight, during a telephone interview, NPPC president John McNutt told Farm & Country U.S. producers have stepped up pressure on NPPC and U.S. politicians.
Like Canada, the U.S. is experiencing a pork price meltdown. "When we look at the fact that we don't have the capacity to slaughter U.S. hogs and we've got a lot of these hogs coming in (from Canada) because of exchange rates there can't help but be a lot of resentment," McNutt observes.
"If Canada didn't have the packing capacity there it would be another thing but since Canada has the capacity and they're just sending them down here because the exchange rate happens to be favourable I think that's a lot of it," McNutt concludes.
NPPC is calling on the Canadian government to end the strike at Quality Meat Packers which began at midnight last Sunday. The disruption has forced Ontario Pork to send pigs for slaughter as far as Manitoba and New Brunswick.
The Ontario Pork weekly sales report normally shows more than 10,000 pigs sold to the US. This week the figure wasn't published but NPPC estimates the total could rise to 25,000 as the strike progresses.
Total pigs leaving Ontario this week was 33,249. Only 88,281 Ontario pigs were sold this week, down 12,910 from last week.
The decrease is the result of an estimated 12,000 pigs producers were forced to hold on farms due to a shortage of killing space.
Fueling U.S. producer anger is the fact the relatively modest flow of about 150,000 American hogs yearly to Mexico, has been halted by that country. Mexico claims US pigs were being dumped at prices below cost of production.
McNutt declined to specify how the U.S. will retaliate if Canada fails to curb the flow of hogs to the U.S. He left little doubt however that US producers will block the entry of Canadian pigs as US pork prices fall to expected single digits in the next few weeks.
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December 10, 1998
Eastern Vision
Last night, thirty-one pork producers representing 10 eastern counties met at Alexandria for the second time in a month to formulate a plan to reshape the Ontario pork industry in the image of Quebec's. The group wants a pork stabilization like the one in Quebec, commonly known by the acronym ASRA.Fundamental to the success of such a program, the group believes, would be a Quebec style alliance between producers, packers and slaughterhouse workers. The Quebec industry involves these participants in a so-called roundtable which meets to allocate hogs and resolve industry issues.
Price for allocated hogs is tied to a negotiated formula based on American markets. About 20 per cent of Quebec production is sold at auction.
Packers can increase their allocation by bidding aggressively at auction.
Robert Perras, a farrow to finisher from Hammond, in Russell county has emerged as the undisputed leader of the eastern group which appears to have embraced the idea enthusiastically. Perras told the group he learned about ASRA from a Quebec vitamin-mineral premix salesman who visits his farm regularly.
Perras says he has discovered even small Quebec producers have hundreds of thousands of dollars built up in their ASRA accounts. They paid in as much as $8.00 per hog when times were good he explained.
Ontario ships more than 10,000 pigs per week to the United States where industry specific stabilization programs like ASRA are subject to countervailing duties on live hogs. "If you have a program like they have in Quebec you wouldn't have to move pigs out of the province, you would meet the needs of the packers," argued former Ontario Pork director Marion Myers.
The concept has the potential to gather steam across Ontario. Producers in Perth, Ontario's largest pig producing county, are picking up the tab for Perras to deliver his message at a meeting December 17 at the Mitchell Community Centre.
Some produers at the Alexandria meeting were visibly angered by the current market crisis.
"The board's (Ontario Pork) not helping us it's been more of a hindrance than a help," said farrow to finisher Beth Koggel, Lancaster, Glengarry county.
Ontario Pork director Cliff Howse, urged the group to make the need for a better stabiliztion system known during the current "short term opportunity. You tend to forget the bad times pretty quick," he noted.
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December 7, 1998Crisis deepens with walkout at Quality
At midnight Ontario's already troubled pork industry got more bad news as workers at Quality Meat Packers, Toronto, walked out. Disastrous pork prices in recent weeks have left Ontario Pork directors wondering whether there will be enough infrastructure left in the province to support an industry.
"As of 12:00 o'clock last night that concern has quadrupled," says Ontario Pork general manager Paul Knechtel. Knechtel says the strike will cost producers $2.5 million a month.
Quality can handle more than 25,000 pigs per week but work-to-rule tactics have reduced kills in recent weeks to around 23,000.
This morning Ontario Pork sent some pigs as far away as the Hub plant in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Maple Leaf's Winnipeg, Manitoba, facility. Pork board officials estimate the extra distance those pigs travel will cost producers $0.05 per kg.
Overall the strike is expected to lower pork prices in the province by about $0.02 per kg. Recently prices have hovered around $0.56 per kg.
Pork board officials say a number of plants are "being quite cooperative," and working overtime to handle the extra hogs. Nevertheless about 8,000 slaughter pigs are expected to be held on Ontario farms this week.
Maple Leaf, Burlington, Ontario's other major packer is working 1.2 shifts but cooling space there is limited.
Ontario Pork marketing staff worked Saturday and Sunday to finalize strategy in anticipation of the walkout. No one is predicting the strike's duration.
Industry sources say workers have picked a good time to strike. Packer margins have been high in recent months.
As Christmas approaches the Quebec industry shipping grid moves to lighter target weights to allow plants to allow plant workers some down time over the holidays. This will make it more difficult for Ontario Pork to place additional numbers in that province.
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Quality--what the workers say Quality "has indicated that this offer is the best they can do," says Bryan Neath, chief spokesperson and negotiator for United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Neath and Don Collis, vice-president and general manager of Quality, confirm that no negotiations are currenty planned. The key issue for over 800 union employees is the wage rollback, says Neath. The base hourly rate of $16.76 is being rolled back to $10.40 under the latest contract offer. The other big complaint is the elimination of long-term disability.
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December 7, 1998More than salary involved says Quality
The strike at Quality Meat Packers is "much bigger than just a salary issue," according to company spokesperson Karen Sample. She says the company wants to be competitive with packers across North America.
About a year ago, workers at Maple Leaf, Quality's closest competitor, were asked to accept a 30 per cent pay cut. Sample says Quality's offer is $1.05 per hour better than the one Maple Leaf workers settled for.
In total the Quality's offer to its 803 workers would give them $4.5 million more than the Maple Leaf deal, Sample claims.
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December 4, 1998Ag Minister Acts Quickly
Things happened so quickly that a day after the event pork producers and their leaders are still asking if the news is true.
Canadian pork industry stakeholders, have been wrestling with proposed new hog import regulation since 1993. Hesitation has centered on pseudorabies a disease found in many US states.
Recently the US National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) stepped up demands that Canada get the new regulation passed. The fact Canadian hogs could go south while US hogs are barred from Canada wasn't sitting well with US producers forced to sell pigs at depression era prices.
Today Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief slipped the announcement of new hog import regulations into a 17 point list of items on a press release detailing items agreed to during this week's trade talks with the Americans. The release says the government passed the new regulations Dec 3, 1998.
On two occasions during the past two weeks Vanclief's assistant, Sylvie Millette Leduc has been unable to tell Farm & Country about the status of the proposed regulation. She has promised to call back when she learns something.
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Friday, December 4, 1998Interesting Week
"It's going to be an interesting week," says one pork board insider. That's an understated way of describing the next few days.
Sunday could bring a strike at Quality Meat Packers Limited, one of Ontario's major packers. At the same time US and Quebec slaughter plants are under pressure from their own producers to shun Ontario pigs.
Quality Meats kills more than 20,000 pigs weekly. Ontario Pork isn't specifying where that plant's pigs will be go if the strike proceeds.
This week Ontario hog sales totaled 101,191. The number would have been slightly higher but a few truck loads were held back due to a shortage of kill capacity.
Ian Muir the board's director sales and marketing, says Ontario weekly runs could reach 115,000 by Christmas.
This week the board shipped 11,422 hogs to Quebec and 14,325 to the USA. These larger than normal shipments resulted from the higher hog numbers as well as work to rule tactics at Quality.
Despite a Canada US agricultural trade agreement announced today by Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief, American producers say they still plan to proceed with a planned blockade of the Canada US border in North Dakota and Montana.
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Wednesday, December 2, 1998The Boys and Girls on the Bus
Thirty-five eastern Ontario supporters traveled furthest to Rally 98. Their bus left Alfred about 80 kilometres east of Ottawa at 4:00 AM and followed a meandering route across the eastern counties, picking up passengers at pre arranged stops.
Alain Lalonde an assistant to provincial Agriculture Minister Noble Villeneuve, whose riding this is, sat up front, using the microphone to keep everyone informed. Veteran Prescott county pork producer Guy Desforges did much of the planning and fundraising.
Bus rental was $1,100. Thirteen sponsors covered the tab as well as the cost of producers' meals.
Two major sponsors, Coop Agri Est and Caisses Populaires Desjardins, Prescott, each contributed $550.
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Wednesday, December 2, 1998Demonstrating By The Numbers - Rally 98
How many of Ontario's 6,000 registered pork producers showed up for Rally 98, the pork board's awareness raising event at the provincial legislature?
Ontario Pork claims more than 2,000 turned out for the rally. The pork board helped organize the event, and knows how many buses were involved. No doubt someone has a passenger list for each bus too.
On the other hand, reporters who cover Queen's Park estimate about 1,000 attended. We should be able to trust these seasoned news gatherers who have witnessed many Queens Park demonstrations before.
Why was the turnout so low? Some producers were at home trying to cope with the additional workload brought on by cost cutting measures. The law of averages says a few were sick. I understand also, that a few had philosophical problems with the idea of a rally. In fact some counties were conspicuous by their absence.
Seven of the 35 the passengers on my bus coming from eastern Ontario supported the industry with their presence and their cheque books but aren't actually pork producers. In all, suppliers donated more than $2,600 to the province's easternmost producers, for the rally.
A passenger on another bus reports that most of his fellow travelers were feed dealers, and equipment suppliers. Furthermore, media members picked up 50 press kits from Ontario Pork at the rally, so together with their support staff, we can assume reporters contributed almost 100 to the head count in front of the legislature.
Election-conscious provincial MPPs and their staff were conspicuous too.
Two seat mates from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, which had asked its non-pork producer members to support their fellow farmers, confided they'd had no luck selling the idea. The perception among dairymen, they say, is that pork producers brought this price disaster on themselves.
Ontario Pork staff did an excellent job organizing the rally. Bystanders and a few dedicated pork producers did an outstanding job supporting it.
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Tuesday, December 1, 1998 - Press ConferenceGleanings by Farm & Country Western Ontario Bureau Chief Don Stoneman during a telephone press conference with agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief's Dec 1, 1998.
"If there is a program it must be trade friendly," Vanclief said. "The industry does not want an ad hoc program and I pointed out the Americans that their recent program was an ad hoc . It went out to people, individuals whe ther they needed it or not.
"Our industry has said to us clearly that if there is a program that it needs to be directed to those that are in the greatest need and based on their whole farm income and not specifically directed to any specific commodity and be equally available to all farmers in all sectors whether they might be in Canada. I have heard that message loud and clear."
There was no indication that the Americans would consider a Canadian aid package to be a trade irritant, Vanclief said. The Americans realize that their own US$5.9 billion program announced recently would make them vulnerable themselves, Vanclief said. "But we have said that if and when there is a package that it will be a green package under the WTO is concerned and that it will come under that kind of scrutiny.
Vanclief said he had made a pitch to the federal Cabinet in late November and was to return on Thursday Dec 3 "to answer some questions and give further clarification. "It remains to be seen, the results of that. The only comment I can make is that I realize (money in farmers pockets) needs to be sooner rather than later."
Vanclief refused to be pinned down to a figure on a rescue package by reporters during the telephone press conference. "I've never said any specifics. I've never given specific numbers to anyone," he said. "There are numbers out there. They are not numbers that came from me." Vanclief said he had considered a possible backlash from the urban community if the agriculture sector is given a government handout. But agriculture affects everyone because agriculture puts food on peoples' plate.
He said it is one of the roles of government to help industrial sectors "in different times and different situations," he said. "From time to time there are needs to assist in some way."
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November 1998
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