Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Ontario turkey processor streamlines operation

Monday, January 31, 2011

by SUSAN MANN

A Dashwood area turkey processor expects to triple sales thanks to an almost $350,000 grant from the Ontario government.

Hayter’s Turkey Products Inc. is using the money from the government’s Rural Economic Development program to renovate its existing facility to improve production capacity, relocate its retail store to a different spot in the building and establish a test kitchen to develop new, healthy turkey products.

The improvements are expected to help triple sales, create up to six jobs and retain more than 60 positions.

Sean Maguire, Hayter’s IT and sales manager, says they started renovations before Christmas. They’re adding on to the front of the building so there will be more room in the back. “We’ve done the actual physical cutting down of walls and making doorways.”

Maguire says they applied for the grant in June, 2010 and were informed before Christmas by Agriculture Minister Carol Mitchell their application was approved. They were pleased and surprised when she called with the news. “Because it was six months later we kind of put it on the back burner and kind of forgot about it until all of a sudden we got this phone call.”

The idea behind the renovations is to improve production flow so meat will come in one way and be processed evenly through the building instead of going back and forth all the time, he says. “The less handling and the smoother the flow is the higher our output is.”

Hayter’s will also be getting new equipment and upgrading some machinery that will enable it to process larger batch sizes and have faster and increased product output.

Hayter’s produces whole turkeys, turkey parts, and further processed items, such as sausages and burgers, for markets in London, Kitchener and Longo’s in Toronto. They also do custom processing for other turkey producers.

“These upgrades are allowing us to produce a ready-to-cook, case-ready product.” Maguire explains.

Since 2003, the government has funded 311 projects with more than $120 million through the Rural Economic Development program. That’s generated more than $1 billion in new economic activity, it says in an agriculture ministry press release. BF
 

Current Issue

April 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Lynmark Farms named Master Breeder for 2025

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

The Canadian Milking Shorthorn Society has announced that Lynmark Farms has been named as a herd for 2025. Lynmark Farms is owned and operated by Tim Shearer and Irene Vietinghoff of Norwood, Ontario. They are the third Milking Shorthorn herd to be recognized as a since this... Read this article online

It’s been a while…

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

The () is coming to the Niagara Region this fall, providing a unique opportunity to showcase the community’s agricultural diversity and natural beauty. The annual event is hosted in a different community each year, with this year’s edition the first time in almost 100 years that... Read this article online

Canada Supports Farmers Following Tariffs by China

Monday, March 24, 2025

The Canadian Government has announced a significant proposal to enhance farmer supports under the AgriStability program. The new plan includes increasing the compensation rate from 80% to 90% and temporarily doubling the payment cap to $6 million for the 2025 program year. This proposal... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2025 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top