It’s hard flogging products to producers who are almost broke and feeling broken.
But some exhibitors at Manitoba’s Hog and Poultry Days in Winnipeg said they don’t mind getting their products into farmers’ minds, even if they don’t make a lot of sales at this show.
“It’ll change, just wait,” said an optimistic Tim Bierman, a regional sales manager from Welcome, Minnesota, with Easy Automation Inc.
“The mood here in Canada is still cautious because the exchange rate isn’t real good and grain prices are pretty high. But some producers are getting larger. There’s optimism there.”
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Hog and Poultry Days had a big December trade show with exhibitors from companies and organizations from across North America.
But the aisles were far from teeming with producers keen to spend money on expensive barn or pig supplies.
Years of losses in Canada and poor years south of the border have sucked most of the wind from the sails of producers, and few have made investments in replacement equipment in recent years.
Yet at some point, producers will need to replace or upgrade old equipment and that’s when exhibitors hope producers will remember the products they saw at the show.
The eventual return of investment to hog barns was also the reason University of Manitoba animal science head Laurie Connor led off the research education sessions with a presentation on open housing of gestating sows.
She noted that many hog barn operators are soon going to replace worn-out equipment and facilities, and she and her researchers hope to give farmers the information they need to decide whether to switch to open housing before the decision becomes necessary.
Rick Bergmann of Paradigm Agri Solutions, a Steinbach, Man., hog and poultry farm supplier, was demonstrating a product that uses electrostatic particle ionization to clear grain dust from barn air.
It’s not cheap to install in a commercial barn, but Bergmann said hog producers were interested.
“Although cash flow is pretty rough right now, if they’re staying in the business, they want to do whatever is best for the pigs and best for the employees,” said Bergmann.
