New chief at Ontario Pork
By ROBERT IRWIN
Ontario Pork has a new chief executive officer who knows the grocery store business well. But can Paul Knechtel do anything about high retail margins, blamed by many for making the current round of disastrously low pork prices worse?"What I'm going to do is apply my business experience and run Ontario Pork like a business, realizing that our mandate is to get the highest return on investment for producers that we absolutely can," vows Knechtel. He says it's too soon for him to conclude whether packer, producer or retailer is getting a disproportionate share of consumer food dollars. Knechtel was president and CEO of Kitchener-based Knechtel Corporation when the business that employed 300 workers was sold to the Oshawa Group in 1990. He worked as general manager of the Knechtel division of the Oshawa Group until 1995 when it was restructured.
The Knechtel Corporation, which he describes as a "family business," was founded by Knechtel's grandfather in 1930. The $250-million operation with 84 franchised grocery stores in small towns across southwestern Ontario allowed small retailers to compete with large chains by pooling buying power.
"I was very much in tune with being part of the rural community where our stores were. A lot of our customers were pork producers," Knechtel recalls.
His new employer represents 6,000 Ontario producers. Last year Ontario Pork had sales of approximately four million hogs generating gross revenues of $687 million. "Paul's strengths lie in his persuasion and negotiation skills, customer service and strong commitment to staff development and retention," says Pork chairman Will Nap. Staff retention has become a priority for pork board directors in the wake of an exodus of more than a half-a-dozen key employees in recent months. Some, like computer specialist Zev Ionis, left because of what Nap describes as a "hot job market" in the Toronto area.
Knechtel says his former family business dealt with a number of Ontario packers. Price negotiations were rarely a win-win situation, he says. "We both probably left the table a little bit disgruntled, meaning it was probably a fair price, given what we wanted to pay and what he wanted to sell it for." His buyers based their negotiations on "what we believed the consumer was willing to pay," he says.
U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows that despite plummeting hog prices, retail pork prices for the first seven months of 1998 in the U.S. remained within one per cent of last year's figures. A recent analysis by University of Missouri economist Glen Grimes blames retailers for over 90 per cent of the increase in marketing margins, which contributed to the lowest hog prices in 25 years for August.
Perhaps the strongest outcry over current prices has come from Saskatchewan hog marketing board chairman John Germs, who told Western Producer recently that hog farmers are being "raped" and that it should be illegal to have to sell hogs at such low prices.
But Knechtel can see the other side of the equation. "I think if you talk to the retailers they would probably say their margins aren't high enough," he says. "Retailers want to get the highest return possible on their investm ent," and if consumers are willing to pay higher prices, that's what retailers will charge.
Knechtel lives in a subdivision "two blocks from a corn field," in a rural part of Kitchener with his wife and two teenage sons. Most recently he has owned an indoor golf and sports bar in Kitchener and served as a food industry consultant.
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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It happens every day on many farms. A sick pig needs a few ccs more than recommended on the label of the bottle of antibiotic. And sometimes a disease or condition calls for a drug licensed for another species or purpose. Draft regulations could provide both farmers and vets with peace of mind for such extra-label use.One problem is no one knows for sure how long it takes before it's safe to consume milk or meat from animals undergoing so-called extra-label drug use (ELDU) treatment. Withdrawal times for drugs used in an approved fashion are supposed to be based on careful science. Variables can include the age and condition of the animal.
Dr. Dale Scott, a board member of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO), admits he has used ELDU on cattle in his own practice. "At times I questioned the withdrawal times," he confides. He says it's time the College regulated so-called extra-label drug use. In addition to residues, he cites growing public awareness of resistant strains of salmonella, E. coli and campylobacter.
"The public is very, very aware and very knowledgeable when it comes to things in their food that could cause resistance to treatment if they wind up in hospital."
Rules for vets vary by province, but Scott, a long-time large animal practitioner from Mindemoya on Manitoulin Island, has proposed a draft regulation for Ontario. He is surveying commodity groups and practicing vets for reaction.
Scott sits on the CVO disciplinary committee. Because of his large animal experience he's been actively involved when the group dealt with large animal cases, which "invariably" dealt with extra-label or drug dispension. He recognized an extra-label use pattern and worried that vets were "leaving the accountability and the risk to the producer rather than to ourselves."
He hopes his proposals will eventually be adopted by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. The first challenge, though, is deciding what exactly "extra label" means.
"A definition definitely has to come out of this study," Scott vows. If for no other reason than harmony with our trading partner, this will probably resemble one set out by U.S. officials under the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act enacted almost two years ago. The AMDUCA definition includes "use in a species not listed in the labeling, use for an indication [disease or other condition] not listed in the labelling, and use at dosage levels, frequencies or routes of administration other than those stated in the labeling." U.S. vets can't prescribe an extra-label use to simply boost production.
The U.S. accepts ELDU for preventive use, but only in cases where the animal's health is threatened by suffering or death.
Scott says his proposal to ban ELDU in feed on Ontario farms has attracted some flak in the poultry and swine sectors where feed medication is common. Another of his proposals that has been controversial is a restriction that would ban practitioners from using ELDU without first trying an already proven drug.
Opposition to this centres on a feeling among some vets that while ELDU would still remain available, their freedom would be curtailed, Scott says. "Right now we have the privilege to go extra label any time we want. I'm not really comfortable with that, because the withdrawal time in meat, milk and eggs isn't proven," Scott stresses.
Ontario Pork Quality Assurance Program Co-ordinator Dr. Tom Sanderson terms Scott's initiative "long overdue. We've been waiting for years hoping that various pharmaceutical firms would generate enough business that they could justify doing the work to expand the dosages and appropriate withdrawal times."
Sanderson, who has extensive experience in private practice as well as in various veterinary administrative and supervisory roles, observes that full-time swine specialist vets routinely provide clients with lists of drugs along with any extra-label withdrawal times. He also stresses that the pork quality assurance program, which is voluntary, requires veterinary supervision for ELDU and stipulates it can only be used when "no appropriate alternate approved product is available."
Scott hopes to get CVO to adopt his recommendations as policy as soon as possible. He estimates it would take a year after the policy has been adopted to have the changes made into law.
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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Folks in the sheep milking business learn to take their lumps early. The easy comeback to the inevitable, "So how do you milk a sheep?" query is learned quickly: "With a short stool."Quips aside, the country's few sheep dairyers have little need for stools. For the most part their milking parlours and typical chest-high milking stands are as cooly efficient as cow milking outfits - but showing off some remarkable welding ingenuity. And it appears there's little sense in continuing to make jokes about the industry. With more producers coming on stream and more processors willing to take the high-protein, high-fat milk, sheep milk products have the potential to carve into a market that's filled mostly with European product. Imports to Canada of cheese made from sheep's milk, mostly from Europe, amounts to about 4.6-million pounds per year. The U.S. imports about 60-million pounds annually.
Axel Meister and Chris Buschbeck, husband-and-wife proprietors of Wooldrift Farm, near Rockwood, Wellington county, are among the province's sheep-milking pioneers. They started milking in earnest in January 1997.
Buschbeck says about a dozen Ontario producers are currently milking sheep. She estimates 20 should be doing so within a year.
Meister - as president of the Ontario Dairy Sheep Association - has spearheaded efforts to expand production, ensuring provincial processors have access to enough product to maintain production, co-ordinating shipment schedules and, on producers' behalf, lobbying for fair and consistent pricing on milk, which currently fetches between $1.50 and $2 per litre.
Wooldrift is moving toward an East Friesian-only flock. The breed's prolific milk output has earned it the nickname of Holstein sheep. "Most breeds," says Buschbeck, "might produce 100 litres of milk over a lactation of 80 to 100 days. East Friesians - with a lactation between 180 and 200 days - can average between 300 and 400 litres of milk." Buschbeck says she's heard of top European East Friesians producing up to 1,000 litres over a 230-day lactation.
Wooldrift's flock currently numbers about 120, with 60 in the milking string. The most they've had milking, says Meister, is 90, which stretches management for the two adult, two child family farm. The milking parlour is a converted drive shed on their rented farm. Taking it up to Class A status with a separate wash up facility and storage area cost about $10,000, says Meister, but it's an investment he thinks was worthwhile: "We're up to standard on the National Dairy Code regulations for all milks."
The stand itself has eight milking holes. Using three claws designed for goat dairying, Meister can run eight sheep through in about 12 minutes. Milking is done twice a day. On the stand, the sheep get a commercial mixed grain that includes mill-mixed pellets of 32 per cent protein.
Daily intake while each ewe is on the stand is about 1.5 pounds, says Buschbeck. The flock rotates over the farm's eight acres of pasture mid-April to late-November, feeding on perennial rye grass, timothy and orchard grass.
Wooldrift buys in the hay and grain needed to sustain feeding in winter months. Lambs are weaned at 30 days to ensure ewes hit the stand at peak lactation, says Buschbeck. Ewes are dried off in November.
An advantage with sheep's milk is its ability to stay "fresh" even while frozen. Research suggests, says Buschbeck, that the microbiology of milk frozen at -18C or lower will remain intact for processing for up to a year.
Given the volumes produced by Ontario's small industry - estimated at around 60,000 litres annually - that factor is a boon. Most producers here store their milk in pails lined with plastic in on-farm cooler/freezers.
Those in Western Ontario share the costs of having a truck swing by their farms once each month to take the raw milk to processors.
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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A group of eastern Ontario hobby farmers plans to make Perth "the garlic capital of Canada." Buoyed by the success of the past two summers' Perth Garlic Festival, Wayne Greer is leaving his job as an Ottawa firefighter to devote his energies to a burgeoning demand for his crop.Greer, who has been experimenting with the bulbous perennial for seven years, grew eight acres last year on his 105-acre farm a couple of kilometres outside town. His fresh garlic sells for $4.99 per pound, while imported product is fetching as little as 99 cents. Larger cloves and freshness give him an edge over the cheaper Chinese product he says is of inferior quality.
The Lanark county festival that kick-started his retail business attracts the area's top chefs, who compete for best garlic recipe. There are grower competitions, cooking and braiding demonstrations, talks on garlic culture and the plant's uses in naturopathy and herbalism. "It really brings buyer and seller together," emphasizes Greer, who boasts "a lot of eastern Ontario health food stores" among his customers.
Festival attendance topped 4,000 last year. Master gardener Paul Pospisil, Maberly, is the acknowledged founder of the festival and mentor to 40 relatively new commercial growers anxious to soak up the scant technological resources available. All are growing half an acre or more.
Pospisil recalls a survey he did seven years ago when he began promoting garlic. "It turned up just one commercial grower. We've come a long way," he says.
He estimates gross revenues for eastern growers could hit around $25,000 per acre, a number quickly whittled down to about $7,000 or $8,000 once seed, substantial labour and other costs are tallied. Yield per acre can vary from 3,000 to 5,000 pounds.
Last year Greer's cost for seed ranged between four and six dollars per pound, but this year he'll keep about 25 per cent of his own crop for seed. His planting rate is 1,000 pounds per acre.
Nutrients are applied in the form of manure from his cow-calf operation at the rate of about 675 bushels per acre. Fields are seeded to fall rye or buckwheat following harvest to assist with weed control. The rest of his weed control consists of students with hoes instead of herbicides, a practice he says customers prefer. The same students dig bulbs at harvest after which Greer runs an old potato picker over the field to catch remaining plants.
Greer has built a unique demand for dry garlic as a snack food, which he processes in a dehydrator. But like other Ontario garlic promoters, he touts the bulb's health benefits, including combating heart disease and strokes.
A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concluded volunteers who ate one-half to one garlic clove daily reduced cholesterol levels by nine per cent. Other research found that garlic contains adrenosine, which breaks down the blood clot-promoting protein called fibrin. Pospisil says the most popular strain grown in Ontario is Music. It was named for Al Music, Waterford, a grower for decades, who this year was a featured speaker at the Perth festival.
The Music variety, a member of the so-called Porcelain grouping, produces the tallest plants and yields the largest cloves. Both Greer and Pospisil agree local product can't compete on price because of cheaper foreign labour costs. For example, the task of manually breaking bulbs into cloves for planting requires about 300 hours per acre.
Manual planting requires a further 100 to 150 hours. "It's a very fragile crop so it tends to not be handled easily by machinery," Pospisil explains.
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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Vineland research fuels fruit industry
By Christina Selby
There are 98 full-time staff at the Vineland research station working for three separate masters. But through co-operation, the results for horticulture are greater than the sum of the parts.Research has been conducted at Vineland, on the Niagara peninsula, since 1906, when the provincial agriculture ministry built a research farm.
Agriculture Canada built its facility in the '50s. The University of Guelph took over the Horticultural Research Institute of Ontario (HRIO) in 1997. And while each group runs its own research projects, expertise from the others is readily sought to augment the information pool, says Ken Slingerland, tender fruit and grape specialist with the agriculture ministry.
Today, OMAFRA runs two research farms in the Vineland area: Victoria Farm for fruit trees and the 35-acre Rittenhouse Grape Research Station. The 200-acre fruit tree farm has research stands of peaches, nectarines, plums, pears, sweet cherries and apricots, and conducts planting and pruning experiments.
New varieties are initially developed in the HRIO lab, where breeders select the varieties to cross. The result is created in a test tube, says Slingerland, and after five years in the ground, the best ones are propagated on standard rootstock and then compared to a standard variety such as Red Haven in peaches.
While a controlled planting on-site will have more exact scientific results, OMAFRA is out there talking to farmers and getting them to test new varieties under commercial conditions, says Slingerland. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Canada team will be working on Integrated Pest Management programs to keep existing and new cultivars healthy.
If researchers and farmers are happy with the resulting product, budwood is released to nurseries in Ontario by HRIO at a cost of 10 cents per bud, says Calvin Chong, who co-ordinates budwood distribution for HRIO. The buds are "virus-free and true to type," says Slingerland. Recent hits with growers include the self-pollinating Tehranivee and the Vandalay varieties of sweet cherry cultivars released in 1996.
In these days of cost recovery, research stations are looking at licensing fees, says Chong. The price charged for budwood doesn't come close to recovering the cost of a new variety.
Agriculture Canada has applied for protection for four new varieties, one each of pear and nectarine and two peach, under the Plant Breeders' Rights legislation, introduced in 1990, which grants the breeder rights "similar to a plant patent," says Valerie Sisson, Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Breeders have the right to produce the variety in Canada, sell propagation materials and collect royalties - when nurseries sell rootstock, a portion of the sale price goes back to the breeder. "The U.S. has done this for years," says Chong. The practice is common in cash crop seed but has yet to become the norm for horticultural crops in Canada.
HRIO also researches production systems, including how growers can improve yield per acre. With dwarf varieties and high-density planting the acknowledged future for apple producers, the same principles are being studied for sweet cherries at Vineland. "Sweet cherries are where apples were 30 years ago," says Slingerland. The difficulty is keeping up with demand, with not enough trees to propagate from.
High-density planting for peaches started 20 years ago when producers went from 20X20-foot spacing to 10X20, he says, and Ontario producers are still ahead of planting densities in Michigan and New Jersey. But dwarf peach varieties are elusive. There is currently no suitable rootstock for a dwarf peach variety, says Slingerland, and with research funding cuts, "it may take 100 years" to develop.
Dwarf pear varieties have been around for about 10 years, but only represent about 25 per cent of plantings in Ontario, says Slingerland. The problem is that traditionally pears wind up on the poorest quality soil, while peaches and cherries tend to get the best, he says.
Vineland is currently looking into high-density planting for pears, increasing plantings from 120 trees per acre to 360, but "the jury's still out on that," he says. Seven or eight years of data are needed.
Another Vineland project showing great results is an alternative pruning system for peaches and nectarines. Rather than the traditional vase shape, pruning them into a pyramid shape is a great labour saver, says Slingerland. The method doesn't increase the amount of pruning required, just the shape the tree is pruned to, he says.
Harvesting peaches and nectarines usually requires three people with ladders per row, he says. With a pyramid-shaped tree, two pickers are on the ground, plus one with a ladder, resulting in faster and more efficient picking.
Slingerland says the system wouldn't work without farmer co-operation. "Just about every grower on the peninsula is willing to participate" in trials and demonstrations, he says, because they're always on the lookout for new and better methods and varieties.
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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