Small-scale chicken farmers feel all cooped up
Burlington-area farmer Andrew Macdonald tried selling chicken meat from his farm gate for almost three years before “throwing up [his] hands” in defeat.
It just wasn’t viable, he said.
“If we could raise 1,000 chickens a year, the economies of scale are such that it could be a profitable enterprise,” he said.
However, Ontario’s supply management system limits small-flock farmers like him to fewer than 300 birds. “Most people I talk to sell all their birds and get free chicken for the year.
“But as an actual enterprise, where you’re going to count your labour facilities, transport and costs associated there, there’s just not the economies of scale there, with 300 birds, to make it worthwhile.”
We quickly ran into some regulatory roadblocks that were limiting
And so he now turns down the steady stream of customers who come to his farm gate seeking his meaty, pasture-raised birds.
As consumers are increasingly demanding locally raised chickens who peck at grass and are reared on sunlight, the province’s strict supply management system has made it all but impossible for small farmers to compete with a concentrated number of large-scale chicken producers in central Ontario. If a farmer wants to grow his flock beyond the 300-bird limit, he has to purchase a quota; the minimum is 14,000 production units — equivalent to approximately 90,000 chickens per year — at an estimated cost of about $1.75-million.
And that’s before factoring in labour, land, feed and buildings.
That outlay, plus the rules surrounding transport and processing, have effectively prohibited small-flock chicken farmers from raising one of the cheapest and easiest forms of protein, said Glenn Black.
He, too, owns 300 birds on rural Manitoulin Island, a resort area between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie.
“I started with my wife doing poultry and chicken farming about three years ago. We were trying to achieve locally produced, affordable food for our small community,” he said. “We quickly ran into some regulatory roadblocks that were limiting ... and we expressed our concerns with the provincial and federal governments.”
Because the area is so remote, Mr. Black said he hoped to create a small chicken farm to serve the permanent population of about 13,000. There aren’t enough people to warrant a full-scale quota chicken farm, but he wants to raise more than 300.
However, the quota wasn’t the whole problem; any chicken for sale must be slaughtered at a provincially inspected abattoir, although chickens are easy to slaughter at home. The nearest one is in Sudbury — a two-hour drive away. After processing, Mr. Black said he would have to hire a refrigerated truck to transport the meat back to his home, doubling the cost of the final product.
To make matters worse, he’s prohibited from selling that meat in local stores or farmer’s market — he must sell it, literally, no further than his own farm’s gate.
The rules virtually ensure that the island was dependent on expensive chicken shipped in from distant processors.
“We got stonewalled and denied repeatedly and at that point we decided something needed to be done. So we formed the Small Flock Farmers of Canada and started a blog on Feb. 28 of this year,” he said from his home on the island.
The rules favour large farms over smaller ones, enforcing a kind of “Chicken Mafia,” he insists. This metaphor can be taken to extremes, with several farmers saying — anonymously — that they fear harassment, reprisals and surprise inspections from “mystery shoppers,” if they openly speak up against supply management.
Canada has long had a supply management system that restricts the production of eggs, poultry, milk and cheese. The system tends to create higher prices for Canadian consumers, but is also believed to protect domestic farmers. As the federal government seeks to enter into free trade agreements with countries that do not have systems that are as strictly controlled, Canada’s supply management system is finding itself increasingly in the crosshairs.
Although it’s mandated at the federal level, the provinces oversee the minutia of the quota system.
Geri Kamenz, the chairman of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission said Ontario’s supply management rules are open to negotiation. If farmers want quotas for smaller-scale farms, there’s a process in place to allow them to push for a policy change.
The high costs associated with starting a farming business under supply management aren’t prohibitive, he said.
“There needs to be a well-contemplated business plan before you make that type of commitment, but the experience and the numbers show us that there are people entering the business on a regular basis and making those investments,” he said.
Further, the concentration of the farming industry falls in line with similar concentration of other industries, he said.
“If you look at the WalMarts and Targets in terms of sources of products you have available, we’ve seen a massive consolidation, all revolving around economics, to get products to consumers that are competitively priced,” he said.
As for the lack of provincial abattoirs in rural areas, Mr. Black said that should provide a great opportunity for an innovative local farmer.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s one bird or 300 birds. The moment that product is for sale, we have to give assurance to the consumers that food safety measures are in place,” he said, noting that he even gets twitchy when he gives his own family meat from his farm. “If something happens, I’m responsible, whether I gifted it to them or sold it to them.
“The great irony to the growing small flockers’ movement is that supply management has long been championed by the left — the very people who are most likely to support pastured birds and heritage breeds, and to oppose the mass-produced conditions that tend to be featured in dodgy animal-rights videos.
Indeed, Carolyn Young, the program manager at Sustain Ontario, a group that advocates for healthier food and sustainable agriculture, believes the answer isn’t to abolish supply management altogether, but rather to create a more flexible system for small flockers.
Such a reform might even allow for smaller chicken farmers to sell their wares at local farmer’s markets — a proposition that is impossible under the current system.
“If you look back in history to see why we acted to create a supply management system, with many agricultural products you saw huge fluxes in the markets that left farmers really vulnerable,” she said. Supply management has been a “serious boon” to Ontario’s farming industry and, without it, she fears “we’ll get influxes of cheap products from other countries that don’t have the same standards we do.”
Ms. Young said her group wants to keep supply management, but change the way quota is allocated.
“The reason we’re campaigning is that we’ve heard from some farmers that 300 birds is not enough to be a viable component of a mixed farm and there are increasing demands [from consumers] for pasture-raised birds, organic bird and birds that are direct-marketed,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Macdonald said he’s abandoned all but egg-layers on his property. His time raising meat birds has left him with an aversion to the mass-produced chickens commonly found in grocery stores — he can’t stand the things anymore. They don’t taste like chicken.
“In matters of politics and economics, to me, supply management is not going to last. It cannot last,” he said. “The market will deal with it, but it may take a while. You’re going to start to see more and more erosion of supply management with the free trade deals that are in the works,” he predicted.