Canada’s 550 pullet producers are waiting for a decision from Ottawa on whether they can form the newest supply management agency.
Pullet Growers of Canada, which represents farmers who raise birds for the Canadian egg-producing sector, applied to the Farm Products Council of Canada for agency status during public hearings in Ottawa and Winnipeg.
Sector leaders argue that marketing power and some control over prices would make the industry more stable and profitable.
PGC received support from Egg Farmers of Canada, whose members are its main customers.
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However, there has been resistance from some provinces and small flock owners in Ontario.
“I thought the hearings went extremely well,” PCG chair Andy DeWeerd said.
“There were a couple of provinces neutral, but most in favour. We are hoping for a ruling by fall.”
He said the Small Flock Poultry Farmers of Canada did not make presentations to the FPCC public hearings, despite criticism of the pullet proposal.
Pullet Growers of Canada, with typical flock sizes of 20,000 and production of 40,000 birds annually, is proposing that flocks of fewer than 100 birds be excluded from the system.
Small Flock Poultry Farmers president Glenn Black from Manitoulin Island, Ont., argues that projected consumer cost increases because of a supply management system were under-estimated initially and have escalated as the process continues.
DeWeerd estimated that the in-creased cost of pullets would add little to the cost of eggs for a family of four.
He said pullet growers often have to sell their birds at below production costs.
“It means we have to subsidize this part of our farm from other revenues or off-farm work,” he said.
“We are looking for a better return for pullet growers. We are looking for a fair return.”
He said a national agency would also give the sector a national voice and the ability to create risk management programs to compensate for the damage that a disease such as avian flu could cause.
“At the moment, we have no safety net for that kind of occurrence,” he said.
It will be up to the federal agriculture minister, in collaboration with provincial ministers, to make a final ruling if the FPCC recommends that a new agency be formed.
It would be the first new national supply management agency since a system for hatching eggs was created in 1986.
However, DeWeerd said even if there is a favourable decision, it will take many months to create a national structure with negotiated provincial agreements and pricing arrangements.
“Quotas and other details really would be up to the provinces, so it will take some time,” he said.
“A decision in our favour is far from the end of the process.”
