A new, high-tech egg-laying research centre is on the horizon for the University of Manitoba’s Glenlea Research Station.
The 4,500 laying-hen barn is expected to be a world-class facility outfitted with cutting-edge scientific testing equipment.
The facility will replace the current one on the University of Manitoba (UM) Fort Garry campus that is out of date and in need of significant upgrades.
“It’s been kept up and maintained, but it is old technology there,” said Catherine Kroeker-Klassen, board chair of Manitoba Egg Farmers (MEF).
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“I’m pretty sure my dad, who went to school in the ‘60s, said he was in that barn as part of his schooling.”
Kroeker-Klassen said the total cost of the barn will likely be in the $4 million range. In October 2021, the provincial government announced $1.5 million in joint provincial/federal funding toward that total. The rest will be made up by MEF. The University of Manitoba will provide the land and maintain the site.
A ground-breaking ceremony was held June 29 at the site with representation from those three parties.
“It was an opportunity to get our various partners together, and to celebrate that partnership,” Kroeker-Klassen said.
In the news release about provincial funding, then-Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Ralph Eichler noted the importance of the project.
“Our province’s egg farmers account for 10 per cent of the country’s egg production and generate about $120 million in farm cash receipts,” Eichler said. “We look forward to the continuation of research that helps drive interest in eggs and advances the egg industry.”
For the university, the upgraded facility is expected to raise the bar for researchers.
“This new facility will be the hub for egg and layer research aligned with industry priorities on welfare and sustainability and provide world-class training to grow our local and national economies,” said Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) at UM.
The 4,500 birds will be divided, roughly evenly, between an enriched housing environment and a free run aviary. The facility will include research and metabolism rooms, meeting spaces and public viewing areas.
The goal is to advance and enhance research on modern egg production techniques and technologies, but operate in full public view, which is an important aspect of the project, according to Manitoba Egg Farmers.
It is going to be a dual-purpose facility, Kroeker-Klassen said.
“The UM will be able to continue research on laying hens, but the other part of it is to bring the public into a laying hen facility and show them exactly what we do as modern egg farmers,” she said. “We are opening up the barn doors, quite literally.”
She said it will be the most modern egg layer research, education and training facility in Canada and the only one purpose-designed to connect with the public.
The barn will become part of the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre at Glenlea. Manitoba Egg Farmers now has a small enriched housing display inside the main centre, but it has no hens. The new barn will be located beside the dairy facility that opened in 2018.
Kroeker-Klassen estimates the new facility will open early in 2023.
“We’re really excited about this,” she said, particularly in terms of the public window into the industry.
“We want people to know where their food comes from and to allow them to make informed decisions on the foods that they choose,” she said. “People love eggs, and we want them to continue to love eggs.”
