Desmond M. Connor

The Public and the Pork Industry

Desmond M. Connor

Introduction

While financial investment in the pork industry is important, it is not the only kind of investment required for success in this challenging industry today. Not only must entrepreneurs convince bankers and others that their current operation or new proposal is worthy of support. They must also convince a variety of other stakeholders - their suppliers of feed grain, the recipients of manure, their downwind neighbours, consumers and the citizen-taxpayers who live in the larger community, the region and the province. These members of the public need to become psychologically invested in the enterprise; they need to feel that they have a stake in the entrepreneur's success, and be willing to put their time and patience into it.

Basic Strategy

Develop a systematic understanding of the community and neighbourhood before starting anything else. Avoid locations where there have been previous livestock controversies. Identify and understand the various stakeholders or publics for a livestock proposal. Discover what each one knows and believes about the pork industry, hog barns, odour issues, manure management etc.; then sort fact from fiction in each case. If not resident in the community, identify someone in it who is active in local organizations and has some developed social skills e.g. former teacher, social worker or public health nurse. Recruit them as a liaison worker, an on-going bridge between your proposal and their community.
Assemble a sound technical plan which deals clearly and directly with the above and other relevant issues. Ensure that the schedule provides enough time for the public information and consultation program. If proposing a large scale operation in an area with little positive experience of the intensive livestock industry, consider beginning with a modest pilot project and phase in additional units over time after earning acceptance and respect from the community. Ensure that principals and engineers are willing and able to staff open houses to build relationships with community residents.
Develop a communications plan for each public. How will you overcome their misinformation and unwarranted fears? What research results and field demonstrations will make sense to them? How can you show them that they too have a stake in your proposal? (One of my principles is: "Everyone should win something" though it doesn't have to be the same thing.) How much time will it take to do it right? Remember, you only have one chance to make a good first impression. Once most of the residents of a community have become polarized against a livestock proposal, the chance of changing the public's mind is remote.
Make personal, direct contact with key members of each public in your area. Prepare and distribute a responsive publication written clearly and simply and aimed at the ignorant skeptic, using a Q&A format, with a tearoff reply coupon and a notice of a forthcoming open house(s). Be easily accessible later for follow-up with interested residents. Other elements in your communication plan will vary with the local situation.
To inform and educate the general public about the pork industry, a joint program by the industry and Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food may be necessary. For example, identify the elements in province-wide "pork literacy" - what are 10 - 12 facts, figures and terms which the average citizen should know; test current knowledge and educate the public as needed.

National and Saskatchewan data from a survey conducted by Angus Reid in October, 1999, show that there is work to be done. e.g. in Saskatchewan, only 37% of the non-farming population believe there is very little risk of soil contamination from hog farms; 61% are concerned about unpleasant odours and 72% about water contamination. (Source: Angus Reid)

Case Study: A Saskatchewan Pork Farm

In 1992, a Saskatchewan farmer announced plans to develop eight to ten 1200 sow farrow-to-finish farms. With some assistance from Saskatchewan engineer Miles Jorgenson, he prepared an informal social profile of the community, established criteria for a suitable site and reviewed five of them. He finally purchased a 320 acre farm, but only after he personally visited and secured the written endorsement of all nine neighbours living in a 2.5 mile radius of the site. He gave them a brochure spelling out his proposal. He shared his plans for additional sites with these people and told them that he was building his own house 1500 feet from the barn. Nearby farmers signed to accept the 7 million gallons of liquid manure which would be produced annually; he agreed to help schedule manure delivery so the farmers could till the land within one day of application.

He publicized and implemented many local benefits:

a captive market for locally grown feed grain;
labour and services for the construction of the $5 million project were procured locally as much as possible;
full-time employees were hired mostly from the community.

A grand opening was held in February of 1994 attended by 700 people. He has since completed several similar barns in the same community. (In 1995, another developer established a major hog farm in a neighbouring R.M. and declared plans for as many as 10 more. Unfortunately, this developer, who took a different approach, incurred the opposition of local residents who endorsed a very restrictive land use bill to prevent his plans from being implemented.) (Source: Jorgenson) Why was this farmer-developer successful? Some key factors:

he took the time to understand his community;
he established and used sound siting criteria;
he made personal contact with his prospective neighbours;
he generated benefits for them and others in the community;
by building his house near the barn, he made a commitment to a sound operation and personal involvement;
he disclosed his plans for additional future sites;
he made positive contacts with the R.M.;
he did not seem to be driven by a tight schedule, but took the time needed to build trust with his neighbours and the community.

Prospects for the Future

During the last century under the Old Economy and Society, development was king. Developers did the best they could to minimize the impacts on the environment and the community, but the development would almost certainly go ahead. This situation might be represented as

(Land + Labour + Management + Capital) - small concessions for the environment and the community = Substantial Industrial Progress

In the new century with the New Economy and Society, environment and community are king and queen. Developers will have to work within the constraints set by the need to maintain environmental quality and sustainable communities; these will be the determining factors. This situation might be represented by:

Environmental Quality + Sustainable Communities > (Land + Labour + Management + Capital) = Limited Industrial Progress

The pork industry must address public concerns about odour and manure management. What about feed additives and genetic modification to reduce hog barn odours? What about composting and other ways to improve manure management? These measures will add to production costs, but without them, livestock expansion will be restricted or halted.

Some pork industry developers still believe that if they deal effectively with technical issues, they can rely on the political process to secure the necessary government approvals. Increasingly, the evidence is that this is simply not so. Instead, developers will need to accept the challenge of building informed, visible, majority public understanding of their proposals and then earn acceptance and support for them. No-one said that this would be easy or cheap, but it is possible if proponents start early and demonstrate their commitment to working with their neighbours and the community.

In the recent Olympic Games, there were individual sports and team sports. In the last century, the pork industry, like many others, was largely a matter of individual farmers and companies proceeding on their own and competing with each other. In the next century, the pork and other industries will increasingly have to partner with other stakeholders - suppliers, neighbours, consumers and citizen-taxpayers in the larger community, region and province. Entrepreneurs will need to take a "community economic development" approach rather than the traditional one.

There was a thriving pork industry in New Jersey in the early 1900s; public outrage about odours and other issues led to its demise. Indications are growing across the U.S. that the industry must become a better neighbour or face increasing restrictions. Now is the time for industry leaders to make commitments to higher standards of technical operation and co-operative relations with stakeholders.

A Summary: Do's and Don'ts

Do:

Start early to understand your community, identify stakeholders and assess their knowledge of the industry and attitudes to it.
Develop a sound, clear technical plan of a reasonable scale.
In a company, make sure that senior managers and engineers will participate in open houses and other community events. Community residents need to get to know and trust those responsible for this new and perhaps scary neighbour. Company leaders need to make personal and direct contact with key people in the community.
If not a resident in the community, identify an active resident with good social skills and hire them as a liaison worker.
Develop a sound communications plan for each stakeholder group/public and implement it well. Be prepared to revise it as needed. See that "Everyone wins something."
Reach out quickly to the usually silent majority and show them what they have to gain from your proposal.
Prepare and distribute a responsive publication and hold open houses rather than traditional public meetings - the last of the blood sports! (See my website and Manual for details; Source: Connor)
Work with relevant organizations in the community, especially through a planning workshop; work towards consensus but without committing to consensus decision-making.
Support an industry-wide public education program across the province about the pork industry to achieve pork literacy amongst the public . Make pork a point of provincial pride, not of confusion and uneasiness in many people's minds.
Companies with traditional, top-down hierarchical structures and processes need to examine their corporate culture and evolve towards a more interactive way of working with both their staff and their stakeholders.

Don't:

Don't try to establish a livestock operation where the industry is already an unwanted guest.
Don't overwhelm a community with a proposal's massive scale.
Don't rely on public relations staff to convey technical information; overcome distrust of the "faceless corporation" by one-to-one conversations with believable and continuing senior staff.
If not a resident of the community, don't rely on a stream of company staff visiting and leaving the community but hire a local liaison worker. Money is better spent on this person's time than on renting a local office.
Don't try to save money and time by a limited public information and consultation program. This is one case where half a loaf is not better than no bread.
Don't rely on the media to educate the public; they have their own agenda, and it's not yours.
Don't spend more than 20% of your resources trying to change the minds of your committed opponents - that's a lost cause.
Don't commit to consensus decision-making since it gives everyone at the table a veto vote.
Don't let misplaced individualism prevent you from supporting a province-wide public education program.
Don't think that a company can develop and maintain co-operative relations with communities unless it treats its employees the same way; you can't practise outside what you don't practise inside.

Conclusion

This brief paper has outlined a basic strategy to gain the psychological investment of the public in the pork industry. A Saskatchewan case study illustrates just how successful this strategy can be when implemented with commitment. Some prospects for the future reflect the forces of globalization, the new economy and the Internet revolution. A summary of specific Do's and Don'ts can form the basis for a livestock action plan. The references provide sources of further information. My best wishes for your success!

References

Bennewies, Gary, "Canadian Attitudes towards the Pork Industry", Angus Reid, Winnipeg, MN, October 1999.

Jorgenson, Miles E., "The Jorgenson Process for Siting Livestock Projects" in Connor, Desmond M., Constructive Citizen Participation: A Resource Book, Development Press, Victoria, B.C., 1999, pp. V - 86-89. Mr. Jorgenson is an agricultural engineer (P.Eng.) in Humboldt, SK; tel. 306-682-4098; fax - 4033; email jorgenhaus@sk.sympatico.ca

Connor, Desmond M., Public Participation: A Manual, Development Press, Victoria, B.C., 1997; 38 pp.; $9.75. Website www.connor.bc.ca/connor

Websites: See www.agr.gov.sk.ca and also www.agric.gov.ab.ca for useful information; the latter, under Livestock/Animals, Pigs and Manure and Waste Management, has brief and practical notes on "How to Become a `Wanted' Neighbour" and "How to Gain Acceptance for a Livestock Operation".

Acknowledgement

This paper is slightly adapted from "Winning Public Investment in the Pork Industry" presented at the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium held in Saskatoon, November 14 - 16, 2000. I appreciate information, comments and advice received from Susan Freig of Winnipeg, MB; Rose Herbut of Lethbridge, AB; Miles E. Jorgenson of Humboldt, SK and Louise Starling of Red Deer, AB.

Desmond M. Connor is an applied sociologist-anthropologist (Ph.D., Cornell University, 1963) with an international practice in public participation. During the last 30 years, he has completed over 300 projects, mostly in Canada, some in the U.S. and since 1996 in six other countries. In April, 1993, he provided two workshops in Regina and Saskatoon on public participation for pork industry development; they were organized by Miles E. Jorgenson. Tel. 250-658-1323; fax - 8110; email connor@connor.bc.ca; website www.connor.bc.ca/connor

Two Alberta Projects

Mackenzie Pork

In the small northern Alberta community of La Crete (pop. 2,000; trading area: 6,800), 50 local investors have used some of their RRSP's to provide 40% of the funding for a 600 sow farrow-to-finish hog barn. The residents wanted to obtain a reasonable return, diversify their economy and develop a project which could provide more jobs. This is a community economic development approach rather than the traditional entrepreneurial model where all the benefits accrue to the proponent.

Manager Clint Rempl explains that the company talked with neighbours beforehand to identify and deal with their concerns. e.g. odour. They hired local labour to build the barns and will purchase local feed grain.

They have had no problems with regulations, no letters of complaint and no negative press. Monitoring wells near the lagoons will check ground water quality. The size of the operation was chosen to provide some economies of scale, but not to overwhelm the local community.

Source: Clements, Matthew, "The hog operation a community ASKED FOR", Prairie Hog Country, Oct./Nov., 2000, p. 41-42.

Taiwan Sugar

Since locating large-scale hog operations on the island of Taiwan was becoming difficult, this state-owned company believed they could find a suitable site in sparsely settled Alberta. They had encouraging meetings with provincial government officials and those in the County of Forty Mile in the thinly populated Palliser Triangle, south-east of Lethbridge in southern Alberta.

The company's aim was to produce 154,000 pigs per year in 14 separate hog barns. It contracted with an experienced firm, DGH Engineering Ltd. of St. Andrews, Manitoba. An experienced community planner visited the community, gained an understanding of its residents and prepared a four-page booklet describing the proposal and inviting responses.

However, two residents became concerned about potential health issues, water and air quality, the capacity of the soil to absorb manure etc. Following a petition signed by 791 people - two-thirds of the county's voters - the Municipal Planning Commission, and later a provincial Appeal Board, rejected the proposal.

The company is currently pursuing an application in a community near Edmonton. An Appeal Board is considering the proposal. Whether or not this project is approved, a descriptive case study and analysis by a third party would doubtless be valuable for the industry.

Source: Nikiforuk, Andrew, "Pig Bitin' Mad", Canadian Business, October 2, 2000, p. 95-100; some Alberta Agriculture officials.

Overview: Homepage Public Consultation 2000+ Desmond Connor Library

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DESMOND M. CONNOR
"Improving the Practice of Public Consultation"
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