Wanna-be chicken farmers in Northern Ontario are finally getting some attention from the marketing board.
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) along with Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) and the Poultry Industry Council (PIC) are presenting a webinar series for Northern Ontario to encourage participation in the poultry industry and the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board’s community programs.
“If you are interested in raising poultry for eggs and/or meat, or want to know more about chicken farming and the Artisanal Chicken program please join us for this three part webinar series,” the chicken board says on its website.
For years people in the North pleaded with the chicken board for a break so they could grow fresh chicken for the local market. They used to have to compete with aggressive quota holders in Southern Ontario to buy quota and then would have to ship their birds to processing plants in the South and bring back the processed chicken.
Now the board has several programs that help them get into chicken production, such as allowing small-scale production without quota and allowing farmers and processors to produce and market “artisanal” chicken for niche markets.
