Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


New artisanal chicken program a hit with growers

Thursday, February 18, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

The first 80 farms to be accepted into Chicken Farmers of Ontario’s Artisanal Chicken program should be starting to produce chickens under the program this spring, and many of them will be seasonal growers.

The Artisanal Chicken program is for small-scale, non-quota holding farmers who want to grow 600 to 3,000 chickens annually for specific markets that they’ve identified. It was launched last year “with the expressed goal of helping to address gaps in the existing consumer marketplace for locally-grown chicken,” according to a Feb. 16 Chicken Farmers news release.

About 100 people applied to the program by the September 2015 deadline, and now Chicken Farmers has opened up the application process again to receive more applications. Of the previous applicants, Chicken Farmers is still working with some of them and continuing the process of reviewing their applications, says Michael Edmonds, Chicken Farmers communications and government relations director.

The average request for each of the 80 farmers receiving approval under the program is to grow 1,800 chickens, Edmonds says. Their farms are located throughout Ontario, including 15 in the east, 20 in the north, 16 in the central region and 29 in the west.

“We don’t have many farmers producing conventional chicken in the north so we’re very pleased by the number of applicants from northern Ontario that are looking to get into this program,” he says. “There’s been a lot of excitement about the announcement (of the program’s launch) in northern Ontario.”

Edmonds says this first-time run through the application process went smoothly. “We’re excited about the variety of applications that have come in and the different markets those farmers are looking to fill – everything from local food markets to working with specialty butcher stores. Some farmers (under the program) are looking to increase their farm gate sales.”

Before the program was developed, small-scale farmers who didn’t buy quota could only grow 300 birds a year for home consumption or farm-gate sales, the release says.

Edmonds says five per cent of Ontario’s annual chicken market growth will be allocated to the Artisanal Chicken program. BF

Current Issue

December 2024

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Snow Begone: The RapidTrak Series

Friday, December 20, 2024

BYLINE: Zahra Sadiq Winter is upon us, and with it comes thick layers of snow, making everything just a little more difficult. But it doesn’t have to be that way, thanks to the RapidTrak Snow Blowers by Ariens. This company’s story starts in 1933 when Henry Ariens took his sons... Read this article online

The 2024 Topigs Norsvin Canada Awards Banquet

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Topigs Norsvin Canada Inc.—headquartered in Oak Bluff, Manitoba—is a global leader in swine genetics, and recently held its in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Stratford, Ontario, via two events for its producers. The banquets blended recognition for outstanding production achievements and... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2024 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top