Behind the Lines - April 2013

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

As I've often opined, the fierce independence and competitive spirit of Ontario swine breeding stock producers has been both a strength and a fatal flaw. The strength has made for some exciting innovation and an ability to withstand severe adversity. It's been fatal in the sense that genetic progress requires large numbers of animals and that tilts the game in favour of the largest players.

I'm therefore really enthused about our cover story by Don Stoneman this month on page 6. It's about a large group of breeders, working together, to develop a credit-card-sized chip that will enable them to analyze DNA. It's going to produce health and disease-resistance traits and other qualities that will move our industry forward.

Like it or not, an argument could be made that politics and government play as large a role in the well-being of the Ontario pork industry as genetics. And getting credible answers from government that you can take to the bank is tough.

Journalists seeking answers are encouraged to seek out primary sources, loosely defined as people or documents that are closest to a situation. Our Second Look columnist this month is Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario and Minister of Agriculture and Food. I think she qualifies as a primary source. Just as she was taking office, I asked Ms. Wynne to identify the challenges we face and her vision for the future of our industry. I was pleasantly surprised that she accepted the challenge. You can decide how well you think our question has been answered.

You may have noticed the latest animal welfare developments in the March issue cover story of our sister publication, Better Farming. European pork producers have always served as a bellwether for such issues in our industry. You'll notice that influence among Norman Dunn's Eye On Europe reporting on page 34. BP

ROBERT IRWIN