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90 DECEMBER 13, 2012 | WWW.PRODUCER.COM | THE WESTERN PRODUCER LIVESTOCK PORK | PUBLICITY Hog farmers hope campaign will help Sharing stories | Alberta group looks to raise awareness of provincial pork producers BY MARY MACARTHUR CAMROSE BUREAU LEDUC, Alta. — Alberta pork producers have voted to launch a public relations campaign to help publicize their plight. Producer Jaco Poot said few Albertans know hog farmers are struggling to pay their bills and stay in business. “Consumers and the average neighbour doesn’t know what is going on in the industry,” Poot said during Alberta Pork’s annual meeting before producers voted for an awareness campaign. “We have to create way more awareness in the general population of where we are today.” Northern Alberta pork producer Rocky Morrell said there is a disconnect between consumers, retailers and producers. He estimates that the province’s 1.2 million sows will drop to 400,000 if changes aren’t made. “This is a race to the bottom,” he said. “Then consumers might think of us as a niche market.… The only game in town is to try and get retailers and We have to create way more awareness in the general population of where we are today. JACO POOT PRODUCER consumers to try and understand what is going on.” Tony Martinez of Donald’s Fine Foods in Richmond, B.C., said consumers need to understand they can’t buy the cheapest American-imported pork in the grocery store. “We have to get consumers to understand they must pay more.” Morrell said the campaign needs to be about more than trying to persuade consumers to eat more pork. Instead, consumers need to know they must be willing to help sustain an industry or Canadian pork production will disappear. “We need to change from selling pork to sustaining this industry or we will be gone.” Alberta Beef Producers say they would funnel more money into research if they could retain all the check-off fees they collect. | FILE PHOTO FUNDING | RESEARCH ABP calls for funding changes Alberta Beef Producers | Group wants return of non-refundable checkoff BY BARBARA DUCKWORTH CALGARY BUREAU Alberta Beef Producers want to reinstate the non-refundable $3 checkoff. The organization collects $3 per head sold in the province and sets aside $1 for Canada Beef Inc. and the Beef Cattle Research Council. That portion is not refunded. Provincial legislation passed two years ago requires that all levies collected on agriculture products be refundable upon request. ABP consequently saw its once hefty budget reduced to $5 million per year. Delegates passed a resolution to return to a non-refundable levy during the ABP Dec. 3-5 annual meeting in Calgary. “We believe this needs to go to a vote to the producers. It needs to be put into their hands,” ABP chair Doug Sawyer said in an interview. “We are certainly hearing from producers more and more that they want it back. We’ll have to look at the right time.” He said producers should see the money as an investment in beef marketing programs, promotions, education, research and trade advocacy through the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. The financial pinch has been noticeable. ABP collected about $10 million last year and more than $2 million was rebated to more than 600 producers. Most of the refunds went to a few large feedlots. “We need to have some money going forward that we know is there, if we want to continue these research projects at a reasonable level,” said Greg Bowie of Ponoka, newly elected vice-chair. Some producers at the meeting suggested the refundable portion should be left alone so the industry can continue to co-operate with the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association and Western Stock Growers Association, which want choice. They also argued that the refundable checkoff has made ABP more efficient and cost-conscious. However, others said secure funding is needed for a united industry. “This is a debate we need to have. There has been pain, but there have Trait Stewardship Responsibilities Notice to Farmers been some gains,” said Cecilie Fleming of Granum. Others argued the money is needed to properly represent producers at the provincial and national levels. “We cannot represent the producers if we do not have the funding. We cannot have all the committees and all the councils we have if we do not have the funding,” said Gordon Graves of Iron River. “It is imperative for the survival of this industry that we have a united, democratic voice and this is the organization.” Lorrie Jespersen, who represents Alberta Milk, said the change has left some organizations cash strapped, and delegates end up paying out of their own pockets to support the association. “It was a ploy by the government of the day to divide and conquer so they could control agriculture in the way they want. It is not giving agriculture the true voice that it needs,” he said. Alberta is Canada’s largest beef producing province, and has had a strong voice on the national scene. It also paid a large share of the bills, said Rob Somerville of Endiang. “In past years, when we had a countervail, it was ABP that carried the ball financially for the rest of the country,” he said. “If we had to do that again, I think we would be challenged. We need secure funding and a non-refundable checkoff so we can defend our industry against trade challenges and to maintain our access to foreign markets.” ABP’s financial report said the last anti-dumping investigation in which the Canadian cattle industry was involved cost $4.5 million. Alberta contributed half the money. Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Genuity and Design®, Genuity Icons, Genuity®, Roundup Ready®, and Roundup® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. Used under license.
LIVESTOCK THE WESTERN PRODUCER | WWW.PRODUCER.COM | DECEMBER 13 , 2012 COW EVALUATION | UDDER, TEATS Examination of udders, teats will help decide retention value ANIMAL HEALTH ROY LEWIS, DVM There are many things to evaluate when selecting a cow. It’s particularly important to examine for udder and teat conformation. Many cows are culled later in life because of bad teats. Calves of a cow with bad teats may have a hard time sucking and getting much needed colostrum. Persuading a calf to suck on the big coke bottle teats can take a lot of individual attention in the spring calving rush when labour is at a premium. Look at the developing udder for signs of abnormally large or small teats when selecting heifer replacements in the spring. The teats should be uniformly in a square. You don’t want extra teats. This is especially critical in dairy cattle where milkers are put on four teats on a twice daily basis. Most supernumerary (extra) teats are rudimentary at best and are usually either between the normal teats or behind the normal four teats. I surgically remove a few in show cattle, but most often they are left. They can become a problem if they are large and the calf tries to suck on them. They are most often blind ending and rudimentary and the milk producing gland isn’t attached. The problem is newborn calves can spend a lot of time trying to get milk out of them. Cows are occasionally five quartered, which doesn’t hurt in a beef herd but is a definite no-no in a dairy animal. Most dairies check newborn calves for that reason. Some heifer calves deposit a lot of fat in the udder. This extra fat has been proven to hurt their future milk production. They become the good looking fat healthy cows that produce scrawny calves because of lack of milk production. Lower weaning weights are most generally a sign of poor milk production unless there is another medical reason for the poor weight gains. This is another good reason for records and having tags in both cow and calf. Knowing the birth date of the calf and its size at weaning helps eliminate the poor milkers. Teats on yearlings should be noticeable but not too large and evenly placed. Too small or too large make it difficult for the calf to latch onto at birth. Smaller teats also have a smaller streak canal that requires lots of sucking to get milk. Calves are not stupid so will gravitate to sucking on the teats that milk the easiest. Teats that are too large are also hard for the calf to suck on. They have larger streak canals and will often leak milk if the teat sphincter is not tight. These quarters are prone to mastitis. The teat will either grow larger over time because it is never milked out or a chronic mastitis will take hold, rendering the quarter useless. The good news about chronic mastitis is the quarter can be dried off chemically if the cow is not sick. A veterinarian can advise on treatment, which involves either copper sulfate solution or silver nitrate solution put up the infected quarter. This sets up chemical inflammation scarring and drying off of the quarter. I prefer 12 cc of a one percent silver nitrate solution infused up the quarter and then repeated in 10 days. It is much easier if the cow is in the process of being weaned and the other quarters are being dried off naturally. The cow then freshens next year as a three teater. Milk production does not suffer because a three teated cow will produce almost as much as a four teated cow. �� However, it is best to cull the cow if two quarters are shot because milk production is considerably less. Calves usually avoid these quarters because the taste of mastitic milk is not good, and the swelling and inflammation should alert the producer to check. Scarred and blind teats are more difficult to notice, but there are telltale signs: either the calf always seems to be sucking and yet is gaunt or the cow’s udder is always full. If in doubt, get the cow into the maternity pen and strip out the quarters to see if milk is present. Not many cows are brought into maternity pens these days to calve out because of easy calving, but the ones that are should be stripped out to make sure the teats are not plugged. This makes it much easier on a calf just getting started, but it also allows problems to be detected early. Many calves starve to death each year or don’t get enough colostrum because of teat problems. Heavy milkers develop low slung bags and/or their suspensory apparatus becomes stretched in later life. Teat placement becomes too low, which makes it difficult for tall calves to suck. They should be put on the cull list. Self suckers or heifers that suck on their pen mates should also be sold as slaughter animals. As well, watch for teat injuries from 91 freezing on cold windy days. Ointments may be able to prevent serious mastitis problems or calves getting kicked as they suck these sore blackened teats. We can lower the cull rate for udder and teat problems later in life by checking teat and udder conformation early and not using the undesirables as replacements. You won’t eliminate all the problems, but most can be avoided. Your goal is tight uddered, soft milkers with good milk production that have a long productive life in your herd. Roy Lewis has a veterinary practice in Westlock, Alta. and works part time as a technical services veterinarian with Merck Animal Health. ��
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