Hog marketing exemption recipe for packer pressure?

Thursday, February 18, 2010

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

The blanket exemption from Ontario Pork’s marketing powers created by the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal decision this week leaves producers “open to manipulation” by packers says Elbert van Donkersgoed, agent for the farmer who began the appeal process more than a year ago.

Van Donkersgoed, who represented Glencoe producer Rein Minnema during the appeal process, predicts that pork producers will find themselves pressured by processors to “go the exempt route” or face a non-renewal of their production contracts.

He says following the Farm Products Marketing Commission’s 2008 ruling that took away Ontario Pork’s marketing powers “a number of producers . . . were being told you need to quit making a fuss about the Commission decision or your contract might not get a renewal.”

“One can imagine a similar pressure happening under this type of circumstance that the Tribunal has created.”

Tuesday’s decision by the Tribunal re-instated Ontario Pork’s key powers. The Tribunal also granted producers a blanket exemption from those powers.

Van Donkersgoed says: “we think there was a better way, and we did our best to articulate it during the hearing process.” He and Minnema wanted the Tribunal to make room for pilot projects and “experiments” with “various groups” becoming agents of Ontario Pork and being delegated powers of settlement and logistics by the board.

“This process (Tribunal members) have created leaves pork producers open to . . . some manipulation by the processing sector. In our view that is not gong to be healthy for the sector over the next stretch.” Van Donkersgoed says three producers expressed concerns about manipulation in telephone conversations with him yesterday.

Van Donkersgoed says he and Minnema are pleased with the decision otherwise. “The future of Ontario Pork’s powers are back in the hands of producers,” he says. The decision preserves Ontario Pork’s marketing powers and “takes the Commission’s decision off the table. It doesn’t mean the ideas behind the Commission’s decision are gone.” The decision also mentioned a plebiscite if producers want marketing powers changed. BF