BC pullet producers oppose supply management

Thursday, September 1, 2011

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

British Columbia is the lone holdout in a push by the Pullet Growers of Canada (PGC) to get a national supply management deal. PGC chair Andy DeWeerd said producers in all the other provinces are in favour. The governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan have not yet said they would support supply management although the producers in both provinces have endorsed the move.

The PGC has drafted a detailed proposal for the Farm Products Council of Canada in pursuit of Part 2 Agency status under the Farm Products Agencies Act which would give them supply management powers. A first draft of that proposal has been submitted to the Farm Products Council of Canada to determine any gaps in the process of submission. They hope to have a final draft by Oct. 31.

DeWeerd said they are still hoping B.C. producers will join others from across the country. He said he was not certain what would happen if either Alberta or Saskatchewan or both do not support their producers’ quest to be part of the national pullet supply management system. Three provinces -Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia - have provincial pullet supply management. DeWeerd said Quebec and its pullet producers are close to a supply management deal.

“At this point,” DeWeerd said, “we’re hoping everyone will come on side. We don’t know what we’re going to hit in the next month or so.”

If B.C. continues to opt out, DeWeerd said he believes supply management rules would allow other provinces to ship pullets into B.C. but B.C. would not be able to ship to other provinces.

There are 550 pullet producers in Canada. They raise laying hens up to 19 weeks old and sell the hens to egg producers. Quota, DeWeerd said, will be based on 2009-2010 numbers. It will be allocated to provinces to pass on to producers.

Benefits of national supply management, he said, would include the ability to control supply and price. He said a supply management system would give producers the ability to support each other when there are glitches in the system, such as a disease outbreak. They would also be able to negotiate with higher levels of government for compensation when that is appropriate.

While he said he was being “optimistic,” DeWeerd said he hopes a national supply management system could be in place by March 2012. BF