Deadline for Ontario Pork changes 'manageable,' says Farm Products Commission chair

Monday, January 19, 2009

© Copyright AgMedia Inc

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

A March 1 deadline to finalize restructuring plans for Ontario Pork is manageable but “aggressive” says the newly appointed chair of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission.

Geri Kamenz says the push is needed to support the industry through “massive change.”

“Let’s get on with things. Let’s start providing producers with some of these options that both Ontario Pork and producers have identified that they want not only for them to succeed” but also the processing sector. Nobody wants “to see processors pull the plug which is sort of one of those dark clouds hanging on the horizon,” he says.

The Commission, which supervises farm marketing boards, set the deadlines in October. It’s removing the organization’s monopoly powers.

Kamenz says the hog industry advisory committee is reviewing Ontario Pork’s draft implementation plan today. The Commission established the committee in November to monitor Ontario Pork’s transition. Ken Knox, a former Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs deputy minister, chairs the committee.

The Commission reviews the committee’s recommendations this week as well as a governance review that Ontario Pork submitted in December.

Kamenz downplays the possibility of putting the finalized plan to producers as a vote. What are you going to ask producers, he asks. “I don’t see the question.”

Kamenz can’t explain why the Commission made its original decision to strip the board's single desk powers without first allowing producers to vote on the issue. He points out the decision predates his time. He took over the chair’s job in December. Kamenz defends the Commission’s approach as a “very defensible process insofar as this discussion has happened within the association for a very long time and it was a direction that the association was moving.” The Commission’s current approach “moves up the timeline,” he says.

One challenge highlighted in the draft plan is financial protection for producers. Ontario Pork states that it “will not move ahead with any part of this plan until a fully government funded ... system is secured for the industry.”

Many producers don’t realize there’s no financial protection for people shipping hogs, Kamenz says, noting that Ontario Pork has tackled the issue by practicing rigorous due diligence. He calls the organization’s ultimatum “reasonable.”

The draft implementation plan proposes dividing Ontario Pork’s current responsibilities into two entities:

One would retain the name Ontario Pork and offer industry, financial, communication and consumer marketing. The organization would:

-    be funded through a levy and the draft refers to models used in Western Canada that impose per-head fees on all types of animals marketed
-    have a nine-member board, five less than the current 14, who would serve three year terms instead of the current two years
-    contain three zones instead of the current two and retain current district boundaries.

The other entity would be a stand-alone marketing venture in which producers would have membership and voting rights. The venture would have seven board members and a general manager to oversee daily operations. The plan proposes that factors such as geographic representation and marketing volume would help determine eligibility for sitting on the board. Ontario Pork would license the entity.

The plan proposes having the new entities in place in time for 2010 elections. BF