Score one for eastern Ontario poultry processor

Monday, September 21, 2015

by SUSAN MANN

The owner of Ontario’s only chicken processor east of Toronto learned last week his company’s bird supply allocation had finally been approved for expansion.

The approval ends Laplante Poultry Farms Ltd.’s three-year struggle with Chicken Farmers of Ontario and the Association of Ontario Chicken Processors (AOCP) to obtain additional birds to process.

Under the Canadian chicken supply managed system, processors must seek the approval of producer organizations to obtain supply. In this case, Chicken Farmers made the decision to boost supply in cooperation with AOCP.

The boost to 500,000 kilograms of chicken per quota period will more than triple the 150,000 kilograms Laplante currently processes. (There are 6.5 quota periods in a year.) The change takes effect January.

Laplante Poultry Farms owner Robert Laplante first asked Chicken Farmers for more supply in 2012 but was turned down by the board. The Ontario chicken processors association also opposed the request.

Laplante appealed the decision to the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal in early 2013. The tribunal ruled in part on March 7, 2014 that since Laplante Poultry and the Ontario chicken processors association reached a settlement, any dispute on the interpretation of that agreement would be resolved by arbitration.

Laplante says the permission to boost processing volume was obtained through the settlement with AOCP; the settlement was in turn approved by Chicken Farmers. “At the end of the day, for the betterment of the industry and the betterment of both parties, AOCP and Laplante Poultry Farms decided to resolve their differences and to conclude all litigation.”

Michael Edmonds, Chicken Farmers of Ontario communications and government relations director, says the additional supply came “from other processors. That’s where the AOCP cooperation came in. It’s a transfer from their members.”

Edmonds says the AOCP members “worked with the board to make this possible. Ultimately, the goal is to try and meet markets in Ontario. There is a demand for regional processing.”

Asked why the board made this decision now, Edmonds says the board is constantly reviewing opportunities to meet markets and “this opportunity came up. The industry made a decision there was a market that could be met by having a larger, local plant.”

Asked whether Laplante Poultry Farms had to pay for the supply it got from other processors, Edmonds responded, “I won’t speak to any commercial arrangements.”

Mike Terpstra, AOCP executive director, declined by email to answer specific questions about the decision, saying the Chicken Farmers Sept. 16 press release should be referenced for answers.  
 
 “Details with respect to the Laplante Poultry Farms announcement are subject to normal commercial confidentiality,” he says.

Laplante says he “can’t get into” whether he had to pay for the additional kilograms he’s getting. “There’s confidential information with our agreement.”

The boost in supply will enable Laplante to buy chicken from Francophone farmers in Ontario who want to sell their production to French-speaking processors and currently sell to processors in Quebec.

In 2013, a group of Ontario French-speaking farmers challenged rules in Ontario that would have forced them to work with non-French speaking processors in western Ontario. The farmers won their court case and Chicken Farmers changed its rules to allow the farmers to deal with Quebec processors.

Now, most of the 2.5 million kilograms of chicken produced in eastern Ontario is processed in Quebec.

Laplante, who says he’s perfectly bilingual, notes the supply boost for his operation will give those Ontario Francophone farmers an option “to come back to Ontario and still be able to speak French.”

Laplante says the additional supply will also enable him to convert to full-time his mostly part-time workforce.

He has about 20 part-time employees and three full-time people.

Laplante says he uses mainly part-time workers because he doesn’t have “enough production to keep full-time staff going.” He kills chickens once or twice a week currently at his Monkland facility. When the supply is bumped up, “we’ll be processing a minimum of four days a week, sometimes five days depending on the need.” BF