Swine SWAT team

BY ROBERT IRWIN

Most pork producers probably don't notice the University of Guelph's Swine Health Team until they have a serious health problem which triggers a response.

The group, led by swine consultant Dr. Gaylan Josephson and supported by 14 veterinarians as well as technical and clerical staff in the Guelph, Ridgetown and Kemptville laboratories, tracks disease trends. Since it was established a little more than a year ago, private practitioners have often sought the group's involvement when an unusual disease problem arises. Sometimes, a situation simply requires more co-ordination, such as the dilemma facing the 1,400-sow loop that recently had high losses in grower-finisher barns.

Dr. Josephson met with producers, the four private veterinarians involved with the various herds and the feed company. "Although it was a grower-finisher problem, we found it related to the sows and nursery," Josephson explains.

He brought the team's virologist and a pathologist together with two private practitioners when pigs from another production loop, one with more than 6,000 sows, began showing signs of viral encephalitis.

Dr. George Charbonneau, a Stratford private practitioner specializing in swine, calls on "at least somebody from that team every week or so." He likes the fact someone from the team regularly attends meetings of the swine practitioners association.

The Ontario swine industry suffered a blow when the provincial government closed the Huron Park vet lab, in the heart of swine country, in 1994. Today, team members, at Guelph and Ridgetown led by Josephson, and at Exeter, have filled that gap and beefed up testing as well as interaction with the industry.

The group's computer system is designed to flag any disease that appears to be emerging in Ontario herds. Between June and August last year, 41 of 113 samples for enteric problems submitted to labs at Kemptville, Ridgetown and Guelph tested positive for K-88, a type of E.coli.

Josephson consulted with veterinarians from the affected herds and alerted the industry through the Animal Health Lab newsletter. His efforts also sparked a University of Guelph call for proposals from the research community.

High numbers of positive tests are meaningless, though, until results are compared with decades of historical data stored in the team computers. State-of-the-art technology such as the Polymerase Chain Reaction test (PCR), which team member and veterinary molecular biologist Dr. Hazel Alexander began administering last year, has accelerated delivery of results of some virus screening. It's been popular with producers and artificial insemination units wanting to ensure they are using semen from boars free of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome.

© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.



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No-questions-asked assistance

Producers can get financial answers at KPMG web site - and remain anonymous Some are beginning to talk openly about the B-word, but how many in the pork industry are really headed for personal bankruptcy? In some communities, those who declare bankruptcy are regarded in nearly the same light as arsonists and cattle thieves.

If a recent pork board study showing approximately 64-per cent owner equity in the average farm is representative, most producers, it seems, can find other ways of dealing with the current financial meltdown. Personal bankruptcy is the legal process designed to relieve a debtor of his or her financial obligations. It immediately stops unsecured creditors from collection action, but the debtor must continue paying secured creditors, such as mortgage holders, or risk losing secured assets such as a home or car.

Bankruptcy occurs when a trustee acquires a debtor's assets and then distributes them among the creditors the debtor owes money to. The idea behind personal bankruptcy is to provide a legal way out for an honest person who meets the eligibility requirements.

You must owe $1,000 to be eligible. I find it hard to get rid of the nagging thought that at late-December prices that's the equivalent of 20 market hogs, which is of course the reason we're examining this grim topic. You must also be unable to meet regular payments as they become due or own insufficient property to meet all your debts.

Some of you are probably wondering how does this guy know this stuff? I learned it all at the KPMG personal bankruptcy web site www.personalbankruptcy.com/, which is also accessible through Farm & Country's Pork Industry Crisis web site, accessible through our home page at www.agpub.on.ca.

The property requirement will probably exclude many pork producers who have scrimped and saved to reach the average $900,000-plus equity calculated in the Ontario Pork study mentioned above. Of course, there is no such thing as an average where Ontario farms are concerned, and equity has slipped a lot since the study was completed in November.

Nevertheless, the industry has been headed for uncharted waters for several months now. Those who take action will want to fully understand the implications of such a financial turnaround. As you'll learn from the KPMG site, options to personal bankruptcy include both informal and formal proposals which allow debts to be settled for less than the full amount.

Simple personal bankruptcy differs from corporate bankruptcy. Lenders often require personal guarantees for corporate debts so many farmers are personally vulnerable even though the farm is incorporated.

Furthermore, there are a few quirky entitlements that set farmers apart from individuals (such as 14 bushels of potatoes and sufficient seed for 100 acres between Oct. 1 and April 30) when an Ontario farm is involved.

It's the uniqueness of almost every situation that makes the confidential forum on KPMG's website so useful. Nothing replaces one-on-one advice from a lawyer, accountant or bankruptcy trustee, but the forum allows you to get answers anonymously from an experienced trustee, albeit with an occasional plug for KPMG services.

The site also offers selected bankruptcy laws and regulations. For more complete regulations, though, the best site is the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy established by the federal government, http://osb-bsf.ic.gc.ca/ .
Robert Irwin is Farm & Country PORK's senior writer and computer guru

© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.



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"Babe" gets one trotter up

Babe, the intrepid little pig who made a name for himself in his movie debut in "Babe," has returned in "Babe - Pig in the City."

In the original movie, Babe wins everyone's heart by becoming the champion sheep herding pig. "Pig in the City," directed by George Miller, opens with Babe (a Large White Yorkshire) and Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell) returning victorious from the local fair. Too soon our curious little pig causes a nasty accident involving Farmer Hoggett.

With the farmer laid up, the bills start piling up (nothing new for today's farmer) and they are in danger of losing the farm. Mrs. Hoggett (Magda Szubanski), after trying to keep the farm going, remembers an invitation to attend the granddaddy of state fairs.

She and "Pig," as she calls him, head for the big city in the belief that Pig can win the sheep herding competition with enough prize money to save the farm.

Many problems befall the pair and what happens next changes their planned course. They miss the fair and meet many more animals, that Babe befriends and helps.

Opening in late November, "Pig in the City" has had mixed reviews. This film cost nearly US$100 million to make and only had an $8.5-million, fifth-place opening in its opening week.

"Babe - Pig in the City" is a cute movie where the animals converse with each other. It is not for all young children, though. Many will find several of the scenes frightening or disturbing - such as the one where a dog is hanging from a chain upside down with his head in the water and comes close to drowning; or the one where the little dog that has wheels on his back legs is thrown from a truck and almost dies.

The crowd on the Tuesday evening was small, with more adults than children. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. My Mom liked this one better than the original, and she agrees that some young, sensitive children would find it very upsetting.

I thought the first Babe movie was the better of the two. From a farm point of view, I thought it left the impression that animals are never dangerous, which producers know isn't the case.

Another observation: While they kept the same sex of pig throughout the film, a gilt, they kept referring to it as "he!"
Leanne Walker, 14, lives on a hog farm in the Lakefield area with her parents and three siblings. She has completed 21 4-H projects, including three swine

© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.



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