The Chicken Farmers of
Ontario marketing board says it’s three-year-old Artisinal Chicken program has
been a huge success.
There are now about 150
Ontario farmers in the program which allows them to grow up to 3,000 birds per
year without quota.
The board is taking more
applications.
It recently invited
program participants to a seminar and about half of them showed up to learn
about nutrition, brooding and risk management from speakers such as Dr.
Scott Gillingham, the University of Guelph’s Dr. Elijah Kiarie and OMAFRA
Poultry Specialist Al Dam.
Those in the program include some who have developed
brand-name marketing strategies, others who sell from their farms and some who
are supplying restaurants.
The Artisinal Chicken program stands in sharp contrast
to the first few decades of supply management for chickens when the marketing
board scoured the countryside, shutting down anybody daring to grow and market
any chickens, no matter how few, without quota.
