WINNIPEG (Staff) – Manitoba egg producers would likely band together and form some type of co-operative if Canadian tariffs against U.S. products were removed overnight.
Harold Froese, chair of the marketing board, said the 236 producers would have to “operate as one unit, as one farm, in an integrated type of a situation.
“Perhaps the producer group could be integrating with feed mills, processors … we’re moving in that direction now, but it would happen extremely quickly.”
Froese said his organization has already been working with a large processor and feed mills in the province to find export markets for egg products. Losing protective tariffs in a trade challenge would speed up that process.
But Froese emphasized that producers would not find themselves in a huge fully integrated operation, such as large egg companies in the United States that are involved in all aspects from production to final processing.
Froese said egg producers in the province are cautiously upbeat about the long-term future of their industry, even though they will likely produce more eggs for less money.
