Livestock farmers are keeping a keen eye on the fate of
western Ontario veterinarian Ken Metzger. He's been
credited with introducing competition to the market place
and bringing down the price of drugs and vaccines. 
The popular Waterloo area vet faces disciplinary charges
before the College of Veterinarians of Ontario which has
the power to revoke his licence to practise veterinary
medicine. Metzger's lawyer, Keith Millikin of Guelph,
intends to turn Metzger's disciplinary hearing into an
inquiry into how the veterinary profession performs its
business in Ontario. 
Metzger, 34, and a farm boy from Elmira, is the principal
in Linwood-based Metzger Veterinary Services, established
three and a half years ago. Four vets serve 1,700 clients
spread across eight counties, from northern Lambton to as
far away as Burlington. Clients range from Mennonites
running mixed farms to large-scale dairy and beef
operations and purebred swine breeders selling stock to
the U.S. 
Most of the charges against Metzger relate to his alleged
failure to establish a veterinarian-client-patient
relationship before dispensing drugs and vaccines, and
failure to maintain standards of the profession. 
 Metzger's partner in the practice, Martin Misener,
pleaded guilty to similar charges barely two days before
the hearings were to start. The vet was fined $3,000, and
faces a one-month suspension of his licence to practice. 
Metzger's lawyer Millikin maintains that Misener's guilty
plea does not reflect on his client's guilt or innocence,
and that he pleaded guilty so that the practice could be
kept open. Millikin said the college refused his request
to hear the cases separately. Just two weeks before the
hearing Misener retained his own counsel, John Weir of
Elmira, who entered the guilty plea in his absence. 
A third vet also pleaded guilty and received a lesser
penalty. Provincial legislation forbids publication of
that veterinarian's name.
Metzger pleaded guilty to failure to keep proper records.
But he is fighting the other charges faced by Misener and
three additional allegations as well. He is charged with
selling drugs to a farmer without examining animals, and
then soliciting the services of his clinic. He has also
been accused of attempting to corner the local supply of
Resvac 4, a popular live BVD vaccine, then soliciting
farmers and stockyard operators to use his clinic's
services. 
Metzger is also accused of a breach of undertaking dating
back to May, 1993, when he admitted to the college that
the previous year a clerk at his practice had dispensed
unlabelled drugs knowing they would be resold. 
Millikin says the charges amount to prosecuting Metzger
for the same offenses three times, and points out that an
investigation was carried out and charges were laid in
response to complaints from other veterinarians, not from
farmers. 
Metzger procures drugs outside of the established
veterinary purchasing group, based in St. Marys, which
marks up prices 12 per cent and then distributes part of
it back to members at the end of the year. "Ken has been
able to cut out the middleman and his prices are often
much less than competing vets," Millikin told Farm &
Country. 
"He does it on a volume basis and his service charges are
often much lower." While some veterinarians in the area
charge $90 an hour for their time on a farm, Metzger's
vets reportedly charge $60. 
As for as the allegations about Resvac 4, Millikin says
"he didn't corner the market. He recommended a very
successful treatment," Millikin says, while many vets
preferred to prescribe less-effective killed vaccines. 
While other vets may charge that Metzger's clinic cuts
corners to keep down prices on drugs and service charges,
Millikin says "the fact is, these guys are out there
busting their buns. They are all young. 
"These guys are out serving eight counties with 1-800
numbers and four-wheel drives." 
Millikin says his files include testimonials from
hundreds of clients who are happy with Metzger's
services. "What has come through again and again is the
fantastic service that he gives." 
The hearing room at the College of Veterinarians of
Ontario offices was packed with farmers on the opening
day, including 130 Amish and Mennonites who came by bus.
Police officers were on hand to keep control, and
spectators took shifts so that all had a chance to view
the proceedings. 
Among Metzger fans at the hearing were purebred Yorkshire
breeder Doug Nethercott, Arkona. Nethercott says he gets
Metzger Vet Services to blood test his pigs destined for
the U.S. Two vets with offices closer than Metzger have
told Nethercott they don't have time for Ja-viv
Yorkshire's business. 
"These guys are real good. They start the day in our
direction," said Nethercott, who doesn't want vets in his
barns after they have been on other farms because of
health concerns. They call the night before an
appointment to confirm it and if the vet is even five
minutes late he calls his client on his mobile phone. 
"It's going to end up costing farmers a lot of money if
Ken loses this," said Nick Terpstra, Donegal, Perth
county, and operator of a 160-cow dairy operation. 
The hearing is expected to drag out until spring.

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When asked on live radio whether she would get Doug
Gilmour to advertise her new organic milk, Teviotdale
producer Ineke Booy drew a blank - she'd never heard of
the guy. But even without the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey
star and his black and white legs, Organic Meadow
two-per-cent organic milk made a national media splash
when it hit southern Ontario stores early in the New
Year.
For the nine producers shipping a truckload of organic
milk a week to Steen's Dairy in Erin, marketing will by
necessity be a low-glitz, soft-sell affair. But Booy, who
represents the fledgling co-op, is optimistic.
After one week on the market in health food and specialty
stores such as Longos, and Bruno's Fine Foods throughout
the Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph
areas, Booy says acceptance has been good. Bob Muir,
co-owner of The Big Carrot Natural Food Market in
Toronto, sells Organic Meadow for $1.99 a litre. He more
than doubled his order to 12 12-carton cases after
selling five cases in the first week.
Producers get the same price from Dairy Farmers of
Ontario as for conventional milk; they will have to earn
premiums at the marketing end. Marketed as a premium
milk, in a price range similar to Lactantia's PurFiltre,
Organic Meadows sells in one-litre cartons for $1.90 to
$2.49 retail. Producers sell to a distributor, who in
turn sells to the stores at about a 25-cent premium
compared to major conventional brands. Retailers decide
on the markup; the industry standard is 1.3 times.
One 13,000-litre truckload is shipped to Steen's per
week. Whatever isn't packed goes into regular stream.
Booy says producers are still short of the 4,000 litres
a week in organic sales needed to see profits. As the
co-op's only employee, she says she's "counting her
hours" for now.
She stresses Organic Meadow isn't out to make the other
look bad. It's simply exploring another market, and
likely will bring some consumers back to milk. Chepstow
organic producer Ted Zettel says demand for the product
exceeds supply, and sees the market "growing rapidly as
people become aware of the issues....There's no doubt it
will increase the milk market."
Booy says the Dairy Farmers of Ontario has been
supportive. She stresses the producers are "trying not to
get into any comparisons with the conventional market. We
don't want a bad feeling. We have our neighbours
here....We don't benefit from controversy. We used to be
conventional farmers ourselves."
She says the product will be sold on the concept of
input-free farming and keeping small family farms in
business. The feed is grown without chemical pesticides
and fertilizer. According to product literature, use of
antibiotics is "restricted" and "milk-increasing
hormones" prohibited. The label, drawn by one of the
producers, exudes down-on-the-farm wholesomeness.
For now, Booy says plans are to move slowly into the
market. - JMM

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Canada's supply management sector continues to believe
that the federal government is on track fighting a trade
challenge from the U.S. to the bitter end. 
Leaders were in Ottawa last month making that view clear
to agriculture and trade committees. John Core of Wyoming
and second vice president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, the
national farmer lobby group, says farmers won't falter on
the issue. 
Ed Benjamins, Moorefield, first vice-chairman of the
Canadian Chicken Marketing Agency, says "our position
hasn't changed. 
"I don't see that Canadian producers want to do anything
different. 
"We are living up to our end of the bargain and so should
they."
Meanwhile, the Reform Party  is urging the federal
government to cut a deal. "If we lost to the United
States, then the tariffs could be gone overnight and our
farmers would be left holding a lot of worthless quota,"
says Charlie Penson, Peace River Alberta MP and Reform's
international trade critic. 
"We would face a situation like the Crow buyout" and the
federal government can't afford to help farmers. The
value of dairy and poultry quota across Canada is
estimated to be worth $13 billion to farmers. 
"We have to get spending down so that we can tackle the
deficit," Penson says. He warns the gigantic tariffs
Canada erected to protect the marketing boards after GATT
negotiations were concluded last year are under attack.
He thinks Canada should pursue negotiations with the
Americans instead. "It would be far more reasonable to
negotiate a settlement that would allow us to phase out
the tariffs while giving the industry time to adjust." 
Canada should also insist the U.S. end its subsidies to
dairy, poultry and egg producers, he says. Penson notes
that U.S. dairy farmers got $3.6 billion in subsidies
last year. 
It would probably take five or 10 years for such a
settlement to come into effect and that would give supply
managed producers time to prepare for open competition.
He is sure that once freed of the hobbles of quotas,
Canadian farmers will be able to compete with U.S.
producers. 
Core says the Reform people are the only ones who think
Canada should cut a deal with the U.S. on tariffs. Farm
leaders met with the trade and agriculture committees to
make it clear that their stand was firm. Tariffs are in
effect until the year 2001. Then negotiations will begin
on a new set of trade talks. "Canada has to be firm about
reducing tariffs in other countries," he says.
Benjamins says the industry has nothing to lose by
holding steady on the current path. "We're very confident
our government has a strong legal case.
"I haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe
that it wouldn't be successful." 
-  DS with files from Alex Binkley