Pork partnerships result from ministry restructuring

BY ROBERT IRWIN

There are 27 key jobs up for grabs at the Ontario agriculture ministry, and a further 20 have been filled internally, all part of the restructuring of extension services. Some existing specialists will have to reapply for similar jobs, but OMAFRA assistant deputy minister Jim Wheeler says the changes mean "cutting-edge technology" for Ontario farmers.

Newspaper ads appeared recently offering between $53,500 and $64,300 for "lead" positions to head various extension groups. Three swine industry lead positions are up for grabs.

The restructuring, which involves some staff reductions, follows a study carried out by deputy minister Frank Ingratta and Ontario Corn Producers Association general manager Terry Daynard. "It was determined that we needed to devote more resources to hiring some of the very best people from wherever we could attract them," explains Wheeler.

In addition to crops and livestock, leads will be hired for business management as well as rural resources. The 27 positions that have been opened up to competition are deemed to be jobs that have "significantly changed," according to Wheeler. "Their primary focus will not be dealing with individual producers, but with trying to package information...to the large number of producers," he explains.

Leads will be given enough money to encourage world travel and bring in experts to speak to the Ontario industry. Wheeler says OMAFRA will spend "whatever it takes, within reason," and committed to providing leads with whatever they need to get the job done. But he also admits no money has been earmarked yet.

Ontario Pork chairman Will Nap says his board is more concerned with research cutbacks than extension positions. "The need to extend information to producers is important, but there are other methodologies available to do that," Nap contends.

He says Internet and fax machines have diminished the need for on-farm visits, "which many producers frown upon anyway for disease reasons." Nap says the pork board favours a centre-of-excellence concept, "where a producer could call and get all aspects of his operation answered in one spot."

OMAFRA plans to locate its nutrition and quality-assurance leads at Fergus, along with veterinary scientist leads equivalent to one- and-a-half positions. The other lead specializing in production systems will be based at Ridgetown.

There will be regional swine specialists at London, Stratford and Port Perry. Unlike leads, they will interact directly with producers. Expect to see more partnerships. The swine nutrition lead, for example, will work with veterinarians carrying out feed research, feed industry associations and educational institutions like the University of Guelph.

The pork quality-assurance lead will collaborate with Ontario Pork and meat packers. There is also a lead for swine production systems.

Dairy and beef each have four leads and are structured along lines similar to the swine sector. But the swine industry, unlike beef and dairy, has no OMAFRA geneticist lead.

Ontario Swine Improve-ment (OSI) is responsible for swine genetics, a move that has generated criticism in some sectors. The organization operates an AI unit and, like its beef and dairy counterparts, conducts performance testing on participating herds.

Swine reproduction specialist Jim Dalrymple, a former OSI board member, thinksit's a mistake to shortchange the swine industry on a genetics lead.

Dalrymple, now a private consultant, cites the case of an eastern Ontario producer currently considering repopulation. "When he's trying to decide on a source of breeding stock, OSI is basically going to say 'come to our producers'," Dalrymple reasons.

He is concerned that key genetics suppliers like Hay Bay Farm, Pig Improvement Company, Northern Pig Development and Shamrock Genetics aren't part of OSI.

"We've never discussed whether there would be favouritism shown," OSI chairman Henry DeWolde responds. He confirms a staff geneticist is being added to work with breeders as well as commercial producers, but says specific details are still being hammered out with OMAFRA.

A total of seven health leads for all species will be based at Fergus, while 10 engineering leads will be split between Guelph and field offices.

© copyright 1998 Agriculture Publishing Company Limited.


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Farm labour in '98 - It's a worker's market

BY CHRISTINA SELBY

Horticulture producers know good help can be hard to find; it can also be expensive. And a shrinking labour pool could make the job even tougher in the Niagara region this year.

Competition from other industries is putting the squeeze on the local labour pool, says Rudy Masswohl, executive director of the St. Catharines Employment Centre, which oversees the Niagara Farm Labour Pool.

The Niagara region's growing economy means workers have job options outside agriculture, which could put "real pressure on the [farm] labour force," says Masswohl. He is worried about having enough people to go around at harvest.

"Finding really good workers is always a challenge," and the supply is not always reliable, he says. The pool's database consists of some 25,000 names, 15,000 of whom are offshore workers. Farm Labour acts as the front line to farmers for the Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (FARMS), the government agency that administers offshore labour.

Peter Buis, a wine grape producer in Niagara-on-the-Lake, says offshore workers are dependable, mainly because they are on-site. That reliability offsets the expense of providing accommodation and paying a portion of the worker's air travel.

Torrie Warner, a tender fruit producer in the Vineland area, agrees. He has two offshore workers who've been coming back for a number of years. But local labour is also a necessity. "Some days we need 20 people; other days, two," he says, adding good, consistent labour costs $0.50 to $1 an hour above Ontario's current minimum wage - $6.85.

While it's too early for Warner to predict a labour shortage this year, he's noticed fewer people have been showing up on the farm looking for work this spring.

Warner, treasurer of the Niagara Peninsula Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Assoc-iation, uses the services of the Niagara pool, and when he's found good workers likes to have them back in subsequent years.

Vicky Gough, co-ordinator for the Labour Pool, says one of the biggest problems for local workers is getting out to farms. She estimates that 75 per cent of those applying for farm work are without transportation. And for those with wheels, other job markets are opening up, which means that farm work - considered a last resort for many workers - just isn't attractive, Gough says.

Meanwhile, the warm, early spring could create havoc for producers who rely on student labour. Strawberries and raspberries are two to three weeks ahead of schedule, meaning many students will still be in the classroom rather than out in the fields, says Masswohl.
See related story on OMAFRA rural jobs program.

© copyright 1998 Agriculture Publishing Company Limited.


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Employment services under the axe

Human resources services, cut drastically three years ago when Agriculture Employment Services sectors in Human Resources Development Canada offices were closed, could be looking at more cuts in the future, eventually leading to user fees.

The Niagara Farm Labour Pool, which acts as employment agent for farmlabour in the region, currently receives $90,000 in operation funding from HRDC. The pool recruits and screenspotential employees for the Niagara region.

But the future for funding is tentative, says Rudy Masswohl, executive director of the St. Catharines Employ-ment Centre, which oversees the Labour Pool. He says the government "wants to be less and less involved."

Henry Neufeld, regional manager of agricultural programs and services at HRDC, agrees that other "self-service" options are being looked at.

Simcoe, for example, has no human resources agents. Those seeking work can access AVRES - automated voice-response employment service - by phone and hear a taped message about available positions and how to contact employers directly. Employees register their needs through Human Resources Canada.

Another option, which Neufeld says is getting a positive response in rural areas, is a computer job bank kiosk that can carry out a "virtual job match," searching the computer's listing for jobs that match potential employees' qualifications. - Christina Selby

© copyright 1998 Agriculture Publishing Company Limited.


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Late blight battle heating up

Late blight is like a lot of other farming challenges: In the end, the weather will make the final decision. Researchers are looking for new solutions, but a good pair of eyes in the field could be a potato producer's best line of defence.

New late blight strains are developing, making tried-and-true treatment methods ineffective. A2 first appeared in the eastern U.S. in 1992 and had spread throughout most of the U.S. and Canada by 1996. The strain is showing resistance to metalaxyl, the active ingredient in Ridomil, which has for years been a death sentence for late blight. A1 has only crossed the border into B.C. and Manitoba so far, but is even more aggressive than A2, says Eugenia Banks, potato IPM specialist for the Ontario agriculture ministry.

"Ridomil was an excellent spray," says Banks. Growers need something to replace it, something that kills plants from the inside, she says.

NatureMark, a unit of Monsanto Canada Inc., is in its second year of field trials for a late blight-resistant variety that may hit the commercial market in 2002, says Alyssa Hollier, manager of public affairs at NatureMark's Boise, Idaho, office. Late blight is probably the biggest challenge potato producers face: "It's a top priority for us."

Research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service could lead to late blight-resistant varieties. A wild Mexican potato species - cross-bred with various varieties to produce a usable commercial potato - was planted in test plots in Wisconsin in 1994, then in six other states and Mexico the following year. In 1996, the variety was grown in Wisconsin and produced 20 tons per acre without any fungicide spraying. Research-ers have identified the gene that indicates resistance to the disease with 95 per cent accuracy, according to Agricultural Research magazine.

Genetic developments are down the road, but in the meantime Banks recommends an integrated management system, including a spray schedule and scouting.

Opinion is divided on seed treatments such as Easeout and Polyram, says Banks. Some researchers say it's worth the effort while others say late blight will be a problem anyway, since weather is the major factor. Growers should eyeball seed carefully. Look for reddish-brown skin discolouration; on red skin tubers, depressed areas with light brown granular rot below the skin. Wet tubers should also be destroyed, says Banks.

The Ontario Potato Update, in its second season, is sponsored by ISK Biosciences and available at Bridge Commun-ications at (519) 351-7531. It is produced during the growing season and keeps growers updated on where late blight and other diseases are breaking out.

Field scouting will ensure producers know about an outbreak and that hot spots are destroyed quickly to prevent spreading. The Ontario agriculture ministry has been sponsoring a potato IPM program in Shelburne, Dufferin county, since 1991. Students are hired during the growing season to scout fields twice a week and identify potential problem areas.

The main objective is spraying less frequently while maintaining disease control. Growers have been pleased with the results, according to Banks, who oversees the program. Growers pay a per-acre fee, with additional funding through the Rural Job Strat-egy Fund.

Banks says 1996 was a terrible year for late blight, but because of scouts in the field, infection was detected early and an effective fungicide program saved the day. "Every single plant had late blight, but not the tubers," she says.

One infected leaf introduces 700,000 spores into a field. It takes just one infected tuber to start an epidemic, says Banks.

Inputting factors such as relative humidity, rainfall, leaf wetness and temperature, computer programs can suggest when and how much to spray. Wisdom - developed by the University of Wiscon-sin and distributed by Gempler's in Mt. Horeb, Wis. - costs US$500. The program includes insect and weed management and irrigation scheduling. - Christina Selby

© copyright 1998 Agriculture Publishing Company Limited.


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