Uniting divided pork industry 'challenge' for new pork board chair

Thursday, April 5, 2012

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

Ontario Pork’s new chair counts uniting the provincial industry as one of her greatest challenges — and opportunities — over the coming year.

It’s a challenge, Amy Cronin says, because “there was a lot of divide after that Tribunal came down.” (She was alluding to a 2010 Ontario Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Tribunal overturning of a 2008 Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission ruling ending single desk pork marketing in the province.  Former provincial agriculture minister Carol Mitchell subsequently overturned the Tribunal, upholding the Commission and paving the way for the current open marketing system now in place.)

But “anything that’s a challenge has the potential to be a huge opportunity,” Cronin adds when reached Wednesday evening in Winnipeg where she and Ontario Pork’s newest board member, Arno Schober, are attending the Manitoba Pork annual meeting. Cronin was elected as chair during the board’s meeting Tuesday. This is her third year on the Ontario board.

“We need to bring all of those producers together and stand as a strong industry and move forward,” she says, adding that she would also like to “empower” associations and the producer body. “Because I see so many different skill sets in not only our directors but our producers. We’ve got incredible business people who have a lot to offer.”  She points out that with a smaller board it’s important to be cognizant of members’ time and commitments. “If we were able to better use our producers, I think we could have a stronger industry.”

Cronin says one of her first priorities is to continue to work with processors, as announced at the annual meeting last month. “We’ve got an industry strategy group and I see a lot of possibility there, and that’s something that I’m really interested in.” Ensuring that the Canadian Pork Council is accountable is also a priority. The council “has got a huge voice federally,” she says, adding she’d like to see it work a “little bit better” with all of the provinces to “get a common message that we are a stronger industry overall nationally.”
Introducing a license fee for weanlings shipped from the province is another goal for 2012, she says, noting that rates have not yet been decided. Currently the board is funded only by sales of market hogs.

The Cronin operation, headquartered near Bluevale, in Huron County, is multi-faceted.  Some weanlings from a sow barn in Huron are finished in Iowa, others are grown to 55 pounds and sold to producers in Ontario. Still others are fed at their finishing barn in Ontario. The Cronin family also has sow and finishing operations in the United States.

Other producers returning to the executive include Oliver Haan, vice chair; Beth Clark, Doug Ahrens, John de Bruyn, Curtiss Littlejohn, Teresa Van Raay and Bill Wymenga. BF