The Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board is slashing production by eight per cent for the six-week quota period that begins Feb. 14.
It is the second cut to that quota period within the last month.
The national agency set a 2.5 per cent cut below base in December and this week increased that to 3.5 per cent.
But the Ontario board is even more concerned about the impact of the new COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and has cut its allocations to eight per cent below base.
On its website today the CFO said processors are experiencing increasing labour absentee rates – which is adversely impacting plant capacity.
In addition, the expanding stay-at-home orders have impacted the demand for chicken consumed outside of the home. Chicken consumption in the foodservice sector has temporarily declined.
