The farmers who
are taking advantage of the Chicken Farmers of Ontario program to grow up to
3,000 chickens for artisanal markets are finding sales can be difficult.
The blog for
Small Flock Poultry Farmers Canada has correspondence indicating some growers
are having trouble selling all of the chicken they raised in their first year.
Glenn Black of
Providence Bay, Manitoulin Island, who runs the blog, says that he, too, has
not yet been able to sell all the chickens he grew last year.
But he is hopeful
that if sales of frozen birds continue at the pace set during early winter, he
will sell out before the next crop is harvested early this summer.
He offers a list
of promotional tips on the blog, such as writing letters to editors of local
publications.
Some other tips
are:
- Year-round "farmers markets";
- Local seasonal Farmer's Markets and other rural
markets;
- Local butcher shops;
- Convenience stores;
- Local restaurants, hotel restaurants and conference
centres;
- Catering
companies, and
- Wedding planners and their clients.
The Chicken
Farmers of Ontario also features the success of the artisanal program on its
website.
