Reducing the cost of production is a top priority for the poultry sector
The new president of Chicken Farmers of Canada knows from personal experience how fragile his industry can be.
When avian influenza struck in Abbotsford, B.C., in 2004, Dave Janzen was one of the lucky ones, sort of.
His farm was in the quarantine zone but not at the epicenter of the outbreak.
“My farm was never infected, luckily,” the 55-year-old producer said. “I was able to grow my flock out and ship it under permit. CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) had to test them first and all that.”
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However, he was not immune to the damage.
“Because the whole industry was shut down and I was in the quarantine area, I actually missed the following two flocks,” he said.
“My barns were empty for quite some time.”
Janzen, who was raised on a dairy farm in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, started his chicken operation next door in 1981. He and wife Jeannie now sell close to one million kilograms of chicken a year from a 60,000-bird flock.
He was elected CFC chair March 20, replacing Nova Scotia producer David Fuller who had held the position for 13 years.
In an interview after he chaired his first board meeting March 21, Janzen said he was “a little out of my comfort zone right now, but hopefully I will smooth the bumps out.”
He is not entirely new to the process, having served on the executive committee for the past two years, the last one as first vice-chair.
Janzen takes over as the industry and its supply-managed system faces a period of modest growth and serious problems.
“I’ve inherited some very big issues that are not going away until we find some kind of resolution,” he said.
Top among them is a demand from Alberta and Ontario that their provinces be given more quota to reflect their growing population.
At last week’s meeting, there was enough resistance from other provinces that no deal on quota transfer was possible.
“The pressure is on us as a national agency to try to find a solution that will accommodate several if not all the provinces,” he said. “We need to find a resolution, a great Canadian compromise.”
The other pressing issue is rising production costs that threaten to eat into producer margins and affect market demand.
Janzen said input costs, particularly feed and energy, are a constant concern.
“Consumers can only afford to pay so much,” he said.
“That’s why we’re trying to keep a lid on the situation, but ultimately the costs have to be passed through or we’ll have companies failing. The flip side is what is going to be the impact on consumer demand be-cause there are lots of choices out there, particularly in meat.”
Fuller had some advice on the issue.
“We have to continue to drive our costs down, to be more competitive,” he said in an interview.
“As an industry, I would say this really is a key priority. There’s no sign at all that we will be seeing relief from this pressure anytime soon.”
