eggs on flat cartons

Avian influenza in U.S. poultry puts the squeeze on Canadian egg imports

Shipments are costing more and taking longer to get here

A major avian influenza outbreak in the United States is forcing Canada’s layer industry to scramble for imported eggs and pay through the nose for them. As the AI outbreak continues south of the border, Canadian importers must look further afield for processing eggs, increasing delivery times and transportation costs. Manitoba sources most of its

white-feathered chicken

Processors’ concerns threaten to unravel national chicken allocation agreement

Provincial regulators asked to review the deal

A late appeal by western Canadian processors could jeopardize a landmark agreement aimed at settling a long-standing dispute among provinces over allocating broiler chicken quota. Chicken processors in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia are appealing a memorandum of understanding signed last summer by provincial chicken-marketing boards and Chicken Farmers of Canada for the allocation agreement.


de-feathered chickens on a food-processing line

Chicken industry reaches long-delayed allocation agreement

The provinces had to either find consensus or risk losing supply management

Canada’s broiler chicken industry has reached a new quota allocation agreement, avoiding a potential showdown with a federal regulator that could have thrown the system into chaos. The Farm Products Council of Canada had threatened not to approve Chicken Farmers of Canada’s allocation requests unless it came up with an agreement reflecting provinces’ comparative advantages

broiler chickens

Chicken industry struggles with production quota allocations

An old problem takes on new urgency as disgruntled provinces start pulling out of the system

A recurring dispute over how production quota is allocated to provinces experiencing rapid population growth is once again haunting Canada’s broiler chicken industry. Negotiations to solve the issue of differential growth have repeatedly broken down and one province has left the national chicken system in protest. A solution appeared close several times this summer. But

Waldie David Klassen
1940 –

Agricultural Hall of Fame: Waldie David Klassen

Five new members of the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame were inducted July 17 at a ceremony 
in Portage la Prairie. We're featuring a new inductee each week

Waldie David Klassen was born December 9, 1940, in Steinbach, Manitoba. Waldie was raised on the family farm and in 1961 he took over part of his parents’ chicken operation. In 1962 he married Levina Unger. They have two daughters, Debora and Andrea, and one son, Wesley. Realizing that chicken farmers were at the mercy


Genetic tweaking caused a fertility problem in Ross roosters, which sire 25 per cent of the commercial broiler flock in theU.S.and virtually all of Canada’s.

Infertile roosters increase shortage in U.S. chicken supplies

Canadian hatcheries depend on U.S. imports but have been unaffected to date

A genetic problem in a key breed of U.S. rooster could affect Canada’s broiler chicken industry, which imports nearly all its parent breeding stock from south of the border. The U.S. is already experiencing a shortage of breeder birds and the genetic issue could make supplies even tighter, American officials say. If that happens, it

Chicken producers will face on-farm audits under new Animal Care Program

Officials say the Animal Care Program meets consumers’ demand for increased 
accountability to ensure livestock are properly cared for

Chicken producers in Manitoba are about to see more comprehensive audits of their farms as the result of a nationwide Animal Care Program. But for most chicken producers, the program won’t change how they raise their birds. “We’ve been managing the animal care on an informal basis up until now,” said Jake Wiebe, chairman of

Chicken Farmers Keeping Up With Rising Grain Costs

Manitoba chicken producers are holding their own so far against the high price of feed grain but they admit it’s a struggle to keep up with rising costs. “The pressure is there,” said Jake Wiebe, Manitoba Chicken Producers vice-chair. Wiebe said he currently pays an average of $376 a tonne for feed on his broiler


Farm Building Code To Vary With Operations

“You can’t treat a farm building across the board.” – CHRIS JONES, DEPUTY FIRE COMMISSIONER The Manitoba fire commissioner’s office is recommending against a one-size-fits-all approach for including farm buildings under the provincial building code. Different kinds of operations should be subject to different building standards, said Chris Jones, deputy fire commissioner. “You can’t treat

Planning For A Possible Pandemic

“Obviously, human health is first and the animals second, but we would do our utmost to ensure that the animals are looked after so there are no animal welfare issues.” – SHEILA MOWAT Cows won’t get the flu, but a lot of farmers might. If even half of what public health officials are saying, both