Sask Pork Calls for BSE Solutions that Consider all Commodities

Farm-Scape is sponsored by Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork Play Audio Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork.

Farm-Scape, Episode 1336

The Manager of Sask Pork says any long term solutions to the ongoing BSE crisis must equally consider all agricultural sectors.

Sask Pork General Manager Neil Ketilson says the single case of BSE discovered in a Northern Alberta cattle herd in May has made everyone more aware of how interrelated and dependent each of the agricultural sectors are on one another.

He says policy makers, governments and consumers need to make sure all sectors are taken into account, equally, as they respond to the crisis.

"While the cattle industry is going through difficult times, the hog industry is as well in terms in terms of some of the additional costs we've had to bear as well as the lower prices that are evident and really abnormally low for this time of year.

I think, from our perspective in the hog industry, we'd like to point out that the ag sectors are all feeling the financial pressure from the BSE incident and policy makers, governments and really consumers should understand that we're all in this together.

Quite frankly, I think it's really important that consumers continue with their traditional habits.

In the hog industry we have a very healthy, lean product.

Other comparable proteins have equally good food safe products as well.

Consumers have developed patterns over the years and we see no reason why they should move away from their current patterns in terms of their dietary needs."

Ketilson says, when the public is supportive of one sector, as is the case now with people busy buying beef because of the very low price, it causes financial damage to other industries. He says the BSE incident has hurt all the agricultural sectors, so we need to think in terms of long term solutions that will support the total agriculture sector.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.