WINNIPEG (Staff) – There’s no question about it. The provincial government is going ahead with plans to remove the monopoly that Manitoba Pork has on marketing hogs.
Dave Donaghy, an assistant deputy minister of agriculture, said he will lead a committee that will figure out the details of the new dual marketing system over the next six weeks.
The main issue will be how to collect levies for services like promotion, market development and research that benefit all producers, whether or not they use the agency for marketing, Donaghy said.
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Questions to consider
He hopes Manitoba Pork and the processors in the province will send representatives to help him. But Ken Foster, chair of Manitoba Pork, said there’s a few more issues the government needs to consider:
- Will the new Manitoba Pork have the right to refuse hogs? In the past, when local packers haven’t been able to buy all the hogs, the agency has shipped some to the United States at a cost pooled among all producers. In the future, it would not likely be able to afford to do this.
- Who will be responsible for price reporting? “The others who are marketing hogs directly (to processors), they’re not going to be sharing their information, so why would we,” Foster said.
- Who will hold hogs waiting for slaughter, and co-ordinate deliveries? Manitoba Pork assembles hogs for the packers who don’t have room to hold a full day’s slaughter. It also ensures a steady, efficient flow of trucks to plants.
- What will happen to incentives and transportation adjustments currently offered by Manitoba Pork?
Foster said the government’s decision was premature. “I mean, it’s fine and dandy for the government to … look at the broad picture of world markets and all the wonderful things they talked about. But they’ve obviously forgotten about the actual producers down here who are involved in the day-to-day production of the livestock.”
Many questions, no answers
Foster said the more he thinks about the change, the more questions he has about how things will work. And despite a meeting with premier Gary Filmon and his cabinet this week, and another meeting with agriculture minister Harry Enns, Foster said he’s not getting any answers.
“I’m sure these other (questions) will come up in the discussion, I’d be surprised if they didn’t,” Donaghy said. “But the primary task is, what should that levy be? How do we ensure that it is collected in an appropriate manner?”
Foster disagrees that levies are the main issue. He said Manitoba Pork would feel more comfortable sitting on the committee if it will agree to discuss broader details.
Foster said he and other producers are still holding on to “a thread of hope that common sense will prevail.” Once the government sees how dual marketing will destroy Manitoba Pork’s efficient system, he hopes it will reconsider.
