Chicken Farmers of Ontario by the numbers for 2015

Thursday, March 10, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

Chicken Farmers of Ontario finished 2015 with a $239,125 surplus, according to the annual report released at the organization’s annual meeting in Mississauga on Tuesday.

Chicken Farmers had revenue of $9.8 million and expenses of $8.8 million for 2015. Revenue in 2014 was $8.9 million and expenses were $8 million.

At $3.9 million, salaries topped the expense list for the organization that represents the province’s supply-managed broiler industry. Other major expenses were board members’ fees ($457,503); stakeholder communications ($462,642); business consulting fees ($411,925); group insurance and pension ($375,006); and project expenses ($316,495).

Chicken Farmers' final surplus in 2015 ($239,125) would have been higher than the 2014 surplus ($575,617) had it not been for several expenses that were far greater last year than in the previous year.

For example, the cost of production formula was $335,860 in 2015, which was $73,603 more than the $262,257 spent in 2014. The “allocating growth” costs were $242,328 in 2015 compared to $40,682 in 2014. As well, in 2015 the organization turned 50 and spent $107,915 to celebrate.

The annual report also revealed the organization’s healthy balance sheet. As of Dec. 31, 2015 Chicken Farmers had net assets of $10.6 million compared to $9.8 million in 2014.

Some of the other numbers from the report include:

• two million — the number of specialty breeds chickens grown in Ontario last year. By the end of last year, more than 20 farmers were accepted into the Specialty Breeds chicken program. The program supplies chicken to Ontario’s growing ethnic population looking for birds processed with the head and feet attached to the body.
• 2023 — the year poultry is projected to overtake pork as the world’s most consumed meat.
• 489 million kilograms — the amount of commercial chicken grown last year with a farmgate value of $755 million.
• 11,900 — the number of registered farmers in the Family Food program, which allows them to grow less than 300 chickens a year without having to buy quota. BF