Chicken producers' on-farm food safety program needs streamlining

Friday, January 16, 2009

© Copyright AgMedia Inc

by SUSAN MANN

Ontario broiler farmer Adrian Rehorst wants more on-line forms incorporated in the national on-farm food safety program for chicken.

Rehorst, who farms near Teeswater in south Bruce County, says forms are easier to fill out on-line. Some forms for the program can already be filled out electronically but he would like to the number increased.

His call for more streamlined recordkeeping was echoed by farmers responding to a recent review of the Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) on-farm food safety program, Safe, Safer, Safest. Rehorst didn’t send in comments to CFC directly but as an Ontario provincial board director he has input in the review through his board. Others in the industry could also suggest changes, such the auditors. The deadline for comments was Dec. 31.

Usually chicken farmers have their say during these regular reviews of the program through their provincial boards and they’ll still be able to have a say that way this time too. But this was the first time CFC asked farmers directly for comments through its newsletter.

Steve Leech, CFC food safety program manager, says he didn’t have a total for the number of responses received as they’re still reviewing them. But more streamlined recordkeeping was one thing that many farmers suggested.

Lisa Bishop-Spencer, CFC communications manager, says there weren’t a lot of suggestions to change the actual program. “People were generally pretty pleased.”

She adds that farmers realize consumers and processors have specific expectations and it’s better for them to help create programs rather than have programs made for them. Being involved in the creation and reviews enables farmers to “participate pretty fully.” 

Rehorst is a big fan of the program and has used it since it was implemented in 1998. He says “the best thing about the program is it doesn’t change the way we do things. It just allows us to demonstrate from gate to plate what we’re doing.”

The program involves stringent recordkeeping and audited on-farm practices. It combines good production practices and Hazard Analysis, Critical Control Point principles into chicken production.

In addition to doing a review, CFC is encouraging provinces to make the program mandatory. The program is mandatory in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. CFC doesn’t have the regulatory authority to make the program mandatory for all farmers. Provincial boards do have that authority so they’re the ones that have to make it mandatory.

Leech says the program was reviewed in 2004 and new biosecurity requirements were implemented in 2005 mainly because of the avian influenza outbreak in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley the year before. “We took an in-depth look at our biosecurity procedures in the program and took some steps to improve them from an animal health perspective,” he notes. BF