There is some peace among fractious egg producers, thanks to 130,000 sacrificial hens.
This fall, Manitoba producers had to get rid of 130,000 hens by the beginning of November, to comply with an order from the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency.
But in December, CEMA told the province it could get another 130,000 hens, plus an additional 70,000 layers.
To an outside observer, this may seem like a senseless waste of hens.
But to Harold Froese, chair of Manitoba Egg Producers, it’s a typically Canadian kind of solution, a compromise that holds together a sometimes fragile federation of diverse regional interests.
Read Also
China’s grain imports have slumped big-time
China purchased just over 20 million tonnes of wheat, corn, barley and sorghum last year, that is well below the 60 million tonnes purchased in 2021-22.
For years, egg producers have been divided about how to sell eggs to processors. Demand from processors has skyrocketed, and is projected to continue to grow. But prices paid by processors are sometimes half the price that consumers pay in grocery stores.
Traditionally, part of the price that consumers pay for eggs has gone to cover the lower returns farmers get from selling eggs to processors.
But because of the huge growth in processing eggs, and large numbers of imports from the United States to meet the demand, Manitoba producers have long argued that farmers should find ways to supply them at the going world price.
In 1999, CEMA gave the go-ahead to Manitoba and Ontario to each have 200,000 hens specifically designated for the processing market. But Manitoba oversubscribed its program by 130,000 hens, angering other provinces.
After much angst, negotiation, mediation and even admonishment from the federal government, the provinces involved in CEMA found a solution.
If Manitoba got rid of the 130,000 extra hens, CEMA would go ahead with plans to expand the supply of eggs for processors.
Manitoba producers agreed, cutting off their flocks in the middle of the laying cycle, or turning away the young pullets they had ordered to replace aging laying hens. Manitoba Egg Producers offered some compensation to the farmers affected, but not nearly enough to cover losses, said Froese.
Even so, they were eager to get involved again.
When CEMA announced an expanded eggs-for-processing program in December, producers applied for far more than the 200,000 hens allocated, said Froese.
CEMA also allocated 200,000 hens to Ontario, which already had 200,000 processing hens in barns, and 200,000 to Saskatchewan producers. Egg producers in British Columbia and Quebec will also have the chance to supply processors with 100,000 hens in each province.
CEMA chair Laurent Souligny stressed that provincial marketing boards will have to have contracts with processors before they can place the hens. In Manitoba, producers will have contracts with Winnipeg’s Canadian Inovatech plant, the largest breaker in the country.
Souligny defended the CEMA compromise that saw the 130,000 hens removed from Manitoba in the fall.
“What you have to think about is CEMA is the one that allocates the production,” said Souligny, explaining provincial boards that overstep their bounds put the whole supply management system at risk. Manitoba showed it cared about the system by agreeing to remove the hens, Souligny said.
“I think that’s what the rest of Canada wanted to hear.”
Souligny also said he didn’t think many hens were actually destroyed.
“If there was any that had to be removed, it was very few.”
Froese said Manitoba producers are happy to have the chance to lower their overhead with the extra hens, even though they faced losses by first having to divert hens and pullets to the meat market.
“There’s always frustration in the egg industry, especially when you’re discussing with the other provinces,” said Froese.
They are happy that the long fight seems to have been resolved, and that in the big picture, supply management is able to handle the changing market. But he worries people outside the industry might not understand the demise of the 130,000 hens.
“It doesn’t necessarily make any sense, but in order to move the issue forward, sometimes you have to do that.”
