Saskatchewan hog producers face months of upsetting uncertainty, say hog board officials from Alberta and Manitoba.
But they can ready themselves for the open market by becoming smart about marketing, they say. And the board can keep itself strong by meeting producers’ needs.
Farmers “will all have to become market analysts now, or find someone they trust,” said Ward Toma of the Alberta Pork Producers Development Corporation. “They’ve got to learn about the hog markets.”
SPI Marketing Group, the single-desk seller of Saskatchewan hogs, will lose its monopoly in April. It will continue to act as a marketing agency, but will not have control over all Saskatchewan pigs.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Alberta’s hog board lost its monopoly in 1996 and Manitoba lost its monopoly status in July 1995.
Toma said Saskatchewan producers need to discover if they’re comfortable doing their own marketing: “Some producers will thrive in that environment, because they love to do the marketing thing.”
These producers will need to have current information on hog prices and hog markets. But producers should also realize a lot of price information they now receive with a phone call to the SPI office, will not be available.
“All sales are private treaty sales and are confidential,” Toma said. “It’s proprietary business information between the buyer and the seller.”
For producers who decide not to sell by themselves, finding a good marketing partner is essential, Toma said.
That’s where SPI can keep its strong relationship with producers, said Gerry Friesen, chair of Manitoba Pork.
“What we discovered was they needed us, and we needed them,” he said. Manitoba Pork was given more than six months to get ready for the open market, and in that time it improved its services and added new ones, Friesen said.
