8 Egg farmers to receive
biggest quota boost ever BC allocation subject to FIRB approval
by DAVID SCHMIDT VANCOUVER – The BC Egg
Marketing Board held most of its meetings during the BC Poultry Conference in Vancouver, February 28- March 1, behind closed doors. However, it did open the doors long enough to announce another good year. BCEMB chair Gunta Vitins
reported BC’s 139 registered egg farmers produced more than 85 million dozen eggs in 2018, a 3.8% increase over 2017. Thanks to a decline in the number of eggs going into the industrial market, producer returns increased even more, up 6.5% over the previous year. “We’re still seeing phenomenal growth,” Egg Farmers of Canada chair Roger Pelissero said, noting the Farm Products Council of Canada recently approved the addition of another 1.44 million layers to the national flock. “This is our largest allocation ever,” Pelissero stated, noting it comes on the heels of last year’s large quota increase. “We have seen 58% growth in the past 15 years.” The BCEMB distributed last
year’s allocation of 108,741 hens (a 3.31% quota increase) in November and this year’s allocation gives the province
another 202,110 birds (a 6.48% increase). None of those birds will appear on BC egg farms until the BC Farm Industry Review Board approves the board’s proposed quota allocations. That approval won’t come
until after FIRB receives and assesses BCEMB’s recommendations, chair Peter Donkers said, telling producers “regional development, investing in new entrants and meeting public interest are key for us.” The new allocation must
“balance the interests of everyone in the industry,” he stressed.
One of the board’s closed meetings was to consult producers about what those recommendations should be. Pelissario told producers
the EFC’s newly introduced EQA (Egg Quality Assurance) program is intended to show consumers how eggs are produced in Canada and to confirm producers are actually doing what they say they are doing. He acknowledged BC
producers are leading the way in converting from cages to enriched cages and cage-free egg production. “The most demand for that
is in BC,” he noted, saying the demand “lessens as you go east across the country.”
Almost 25% of BC eggs are
considered specialty production and even some conventional BC egg producers are already using enriched cage systems. Pelisserio said EFC is
involved in a working group on mitigation regarding the impact of recent trade deals on the sector. He noted that while the 10 countries in the CP-TPP have been given additional access to the Canadian egg market, he does not expect an immediate increase in imported eggs. “None of the countries in
the CP-TPP are currently certified to ship eggs into Canada but that will happen eventually,” he said.
The BCEMB also used the annual meeting to thank Amir Alibhai who has stepped down from the board after serving as a director for the past nine years and to welcome Jeff Regehr as his replacement. The board also paid tribute to Barry Lockwood, who briefly served on the board last year. Lockwood was elected in February 2018 but was forced to resign for health reasons just six months later.
The meeting concluded by announcing Matt Siemens of Abbotsford as the Producer of the Year. Siemens was lauded for being an excellent ambassador for the industry, opening up his farm for tours and participating in several “Ask an Egg Farmer” consumer events. He was an early adopter of cage-free production and is now transitioning his farm to organic egg production.
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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • APRIL 2019 New entrant focus The BC Egg Marketing Board is proposing a four-part
process to distribute the current and next two allocations it receives from Egg Farmers of Canada. Last December, EFC allocated an additional 202,110 layers for BC, which represents a 6.48% increase to BC’s quota. Before it can distribute those birds to producers, the BC Farm Industry Review Board must approve the allocation process. Following an initial consultation with producers at the
board’s annual meeting in Vancouver at the end of February, the board released its draft proposal and is accepting responses until April 12. It plans to submit its final proposal to FIRB in early May. BC Egg proposes to set aside the first part of the allocation for its New Entrant Program (NPP). Instead of allocating 3,000 birds to successful new entrants, the program is being revised to allow applicants to ask for between 400 and 3,000 birds. The application fee is being increased from $250 to $750. Applications must include details of the type of eggs the applicant intends to produce and how and where they intend to market them. An industry committee will rate all applicants based on their business plan and farming experience. BCEMB intends to hold draws every five years with the aim of bringing at least two new producers into the industry each year. This works out to at least 10 producers per draw. The goal requires it to always have 30,000 layers set aside. The board is also proposing a temporary allotment
program which would allow new entrants from the 2010 and subsequent new entrant draws to augment their 3,000-bird quota holding by 1,000 birds (less any growth quota they have received). These birds can be “leased” from the board for up to five years at a monthly rate of $1 per hen. The board estimates it will need to set aside 15,000 birds for this program. To take advantage of the temporary allotment program,
new producers need their grading station’s approval and must have a plan for what will happen to their production at the end of the five-year lease. Set-aside birds that will not be used for at least 12 months will be made available on 12-month leases to all other producers at the same lease rate. If demand exceeds supply, birds will be allocated on a pro rata basis. After setting aside birds for the NPP and temporary allotment programs, the board proposes to distribute 100 hens to each producer who either uses only non- conventional housing (fully enriched cages or organic, free range and/or free run systems) or has a separate flock of at least 4,000 birds in non-conventional housing. Any remaining birds will be distributed to all eligible
producers on a pro-rata basis. To be eligible, producers must be in good standing with the board, score at least 95% on their Start Clean Stay Clean audit and at least 90% on their animal care program audit, and meet a number of other basic conditions.
—David Schmidt
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