Chicken board changes mind on requiring farmer to accept email

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

by SUSAN MANN

A Smithville-area chicken farmer can continue communicating with his marketing board by regular paper mail despite the organization’s policy that all correspondence be electronic. But it will cost him almost $1,800 a year, at least for now.

The Ontario Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal partially ruled in farmer Paul Sarantakos’ favour in his appeal of Chicken Farmers of Ontario’s policy requiring all farmers, transporters and processors to provide the organization with an email address. The policy enables people to apply for an exemption.

In Sarantakos’ case, the board denied him an exemption and told him it would not issue his crop quota starting with the A-133 quota period (Oct. 4 to Nov. 28) and continuing past that period if he didn’t comply.

The Tribunal set aside CFO’s decision to not allocate Sarantakos his quota starting in October. 

Sarantakos couldn’t be reached for comment.

At the start of the July 15 Tribunal hearing, Chicken Farmers of Ontario agreed Sarantakos could continue getting information and forms from it along with filing forms to it by mail. 

In its July 17 written decision, the Tribunal noted that, with CFO’s concession, its hearing “as it is currently framed is no longer required.”

During the appeal, Sarantakos raised the matter of the $1,768 annual fee for people using non-digital means to communicate with CFO. Geoff Spurr, CFO’s lawyer, said that was the first time Sarantakos mentioned the matter. It should be discussed at the board level before being brought up at the Tribunal, Spurr was quoted as saying in the Tribunal’s written decision.

The Tribunal agreed that Sarantakos could pay the fee, “but do so in protest” and he’d still retain all his rights to appeal it to the CFO board and then to the Tribunal, if necessary. Another option open to Sarantakos is to not pay the fee and immediately start his appeal process to the CFO board first. 

The Tribunal panel that heard Sarantakos’ appeal “is now well versed in these issues and it shall remained seized for the purposes of any further appeal regarding the fee,” the decision said.

Michael Edmonds, CFO director of communications and government relations, couldn’t be reached for comment.

CFO is the only supply managed marketing board with a policy requiring its members to communicate with the organization electronically. 

Dairy Farmers of Ontario has no such policy  

Graham Lloyd, its general counsel and communications director. “We surveyed our farmers and we identified there’s a strong percentage that don’t have computers, particularly in the Mennonite community. As a result we make all of our important communications available in print.”

DFO also doesn’t charge farmers to communicate with the organization by mail. The organization communicates with its Dairy Producer Committee members by email and “we also provide paper copies of information upon request,” Lloyd said.

There are 3,896 dairy farms in Ontario.

General manager Bob Guy says the Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg and Chick Commission also doesn’t require digital communications with its farmers and the 10 hatcheries. “We have encouraged” electronic communications since 2003 or 2004 and “we have all members receiving information electronically and communicating back to us, in the main, electronically.”

There’s no fee for doing that. Guy said they didn’t need to bring in a policy requiring electronic communications from all 100 farmer members and the 10 hatcheries because “people moved towards it over time.

 “Most people demand having everything electronically because they just won’t want to fool around with paperwork. Even our regulations were sent out on paper and now they’re sent electronically when they’re updated,” Guy says.

Egg Farmers of Ontario doesn’t have a policy but most farmers use email to communicate with the organization. “The ones that don’t have access to the Internet, we mail out” items such as the monthly newsletter, information on policy changes or new programs, says general manager Harry Pelissero. “We don’t charge for that.”

EFO has 425 egg and pullet quota holders. About 49 people get their communications from EFO my mail, Pelissero said.

Turkey Farmers of Ontario general manager Janet Schlitt says by email her organization also doesn’t require farmers to communicate electronically with it.BF