Gathering and analyzing current data on such topics
as size and number of farms, off-farm income, business
structures being used and producer demographics is
important if policies are to be developed that benefit not
only the present producer base, but also future generations
of producers.
To collect information about the Ontario pork industry
and identify current trends, Ken McEwan, College Professor,
and Lynn Marchand, Research Associate, of the University
of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus spent last year surveying all
individuals who are raising one or more pigs. McEwan and
Marchand then developed a database which includes producer
age and level of education, farm business structure,
type of production, pig inventory, age of facilities, future
expansion or contraction plans and more. It was found that about 40 per cent of farrow-to-finish respondents are
considered small swine operations, with 50 or fewer sows. The researchers also found that there are fewer small
producers today and more large producers who are increasing
the size of their operations. In total, about 43 per cent of swine operations in the
province are sole proprietor, 28 per cent are partnerships, 24
per cent are family corporations and five per cent are business
corporations. Demographics of farmers have also changed. As would
be expected, the past seven years has seen the proportion
of farmers over 55 years old rise from about 20 per cent to
23 per cent. Older farmers leaving the industry outnumber
the number of young farmers by almost three to one. Perhaps the most surprising survey results have to
do with off-farm employment income. McEwan and
Marchand found that it exists on farms of all sizes, not just
on small farms. “About 23 per cent of all those surveyed
reported that they had off-farm employment income,”
McEwan reports.