This year it was fully subscribed by February, increasing the total of farms enrolled to 163.
Artisinal chicken producers can raise between 600 and 3,000 birds a year without requiring expensive quota.
“Coming out of COVID, there’s been a lot of interest” in the program, said Carl Stevenson, the marketing board’s manager of community programs operations and flock advisor.
The application process for the Artisanal Chicken program is rigorous, with documentation, interviews and board approval. There’s also a requirement for the farms and records to be audited annually.
Audits cover three main areas: on-farm food safety, animal care and farm worker safety.
And newcomers are being advised to line up a processor long before they expect their birds will be ready for slaughter.
“Some farmers have to travel up to two and a half hours to get to a processor,” said Shanna Armstrong, the marketing board’s farming operations.
She said the lack of processing facilities for small-scale producers is the main impediment now.
She has noticed an improvement in pastures for raising chickens free range. They are becoming more lush, she said, reflecting the fertilizer chickens leave on the land.
Stevenson says there is a lot of enthusiasm for the Artisanal Chicken program—and there’s definitely room for growth.
It's a far cry from a decade ago when the chicken board scouted the countryside to shut down any farmer who dared grow chicken without a quota. It's also one of the brightest hopes for survival of the chicken industry in Ontario if and when supply management collapses.
