The Lowbank Farm appeal has been cancelled, apparently
because the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board and the Fennema brothers
who run a processing plant and chicken farm reached a negotiated settlement.
Lowbank filed an appeal with the Ontario Agriculture, Food
and Rural Affairs Appeals Tribunal, seeking board approval to match farm
production to processing-plant capacity.
The board penalizes producers for over-producing or
under-producing in any quota period which could leave Lowbanks occasionally
short of anticipated supply.
As chicken demand increased, the board also allowed farmers
to produce more chickens and Lowbanks sometimes needed to find a home for the
extra birds, yet the processing company to which the board assigned those birds
were reluctant to pay to pick them up because it was not profitable for such
small volumes.
The original appeal hearing was rescheduled last fall while
negotiations resumed, then it was scheduled for Feb. 3 and the Fennemas
cancelled that appeal.
