Canadian chicken production is being reduced.
The
national agency said the second wave of COVID-19 prompted it to reduce
allocations for production in quota period A-168 by 2.5 per cent. That six-week
production period begins Feb. 14.
Other
than an emergency reduction of 15 per cent in April, it’s the first reduction
in more than a decade.
The
agency also delayed quota allocations for A-169 until its Jan. 20 meeting.
“Much
of Canada is engulfed in a much larger ‘second wave’ with escalating levels of
cases and shutdowns which will impact market needs in the near to medium term,”
the Chicken Farmers of Ontario said on its website.
Ontario’s allocation is 63,654,660 million kilograms. Because there is
no national increase, Ontario’s share of the national total falls to historic
shares; it has been getting more than it’s traditional share whenever
production increases and has used that quota to help small-scale producers who
don’t own quota and for specialty production.
The Ontario board has not said what it will do
to sustain those producers and processors.
