Manitoba poultry predicaments

Supply management in Canada continues to be a reason Manitobans can't have nice things. This time, specialty free-range chicken. From the Winnipeg Free Press:

With the introduction of the new ASQP [Annual Specialty Quota Program] — meant to increase the availability of speciality products such as organic chicken, pasture raised, Silkie, and kosher — exemption permits traditionally held by chicken farmers have been cancelled by the supply management board.

Farmers who had been producing 60,000 kilograms of chicken a year, for example, will have to scale back by half or pay fees, Veldhuis explained.

"Some of those people are participants in the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market and they’re either having to pay more to produce the same amount and the tariff is about 25 per cent that they’re being asked to pay," Veldhuis said. "So I think most of them just won’t produce it.

Here in New Zealand, if you want to grow and sell a chicken, you grow and sell a chicken. In Manitoba, you need to have quota. Small-scale producers who previously operated under exemption permits can't any more.

Erin Crampton, owner of Crampton’s Market (1765 Waverley St.), believes the new quota program will increase the cost of Manitoban chicken her store carries by about 20 per cent, if it’s available.

The seasonal market in Waverley West carries fresh, sustainable, antibiotic-free chicken raised in Manitoba and organic chicken from Ontario. Crampton said if the quota program is implemented as is, there is a good chance the market would no longer receive fresh roasting chicken on a weekly basis or carry frozen chicken pieces from producers in Manitoba.

"We would probably have to bring in products from Ontario if we were wanting to sell sustainably raised chicken," Crampton said. "The cornerstone of our business is local food first so it would be absolutely heartbreaking."

Crampton is hoping the MCP will review the ASQP and hold further consultation with existing producers in an effort to maintain mid-level production.

"Unfortunately, (Manitoba Chicken Producers) didn’t collaborate with those existing producers to ask them what they needed to have the industry grow," Crampton said.

"There’s a huge trickle down effect and it’s so important for people to let the government and the Manitoba Chicken Producers know that they didn’t get it quite right, and maybe go back to the table and have a chat with the people who are affected."  

According to Crampton, who is a former member of the Manitoba Farm Products Marketing Council, there is room in the market for specialty, small-scale, and large-scale producers alike.

"We think there’s enough space for everyone and (large scale producers) need to share a little more," she said.

Read the whole thing, and be thankful you live in a sane place like New Zealand rather than over in the inside of the asylum.

Manitoba potatoes - again! [updated 2]

Update: The comments section in this Winnipeg Free Press article is scathing.

Update 2: Links in the post below are now broken; see update here.
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It looks like what was supposed to have been an easing of regulations to let small Manitoba potato growers sell product to small vendors (recall, the whole industry is a cartel run by three big potato farms with legislative mandate to squash anyone else) has turned instead to further cartelization of the industry.

And so my sister's having to start fighting again to be able to sell potatoes from her shoppe this summer. Check the Manitoba Potato Coalition blog.

The new legislation means that if a Manitoba grower produces as little as one acre of potatoes, they must apply to Peak of the Market for a permit. The new law states that they are permitted to sell only ‘freshly dug’ potatoes, and that these potatoes can only by sold ‘in bulk’ (in other words, not in pre-packaged bags) with specific conditions on who they can sell to. It states that any potatoes the grower has left after November 1 each year cannot be sold.

The Marketing Council and the Manitoba government have allowed Peak of the Market to concentrate the potato industry to a point where today there are only 13 registered growers with Peak of the Market – with three of their largest growers supplying more than 50% of the potatoes for Peak of the Market’s domestic quota market. When Manitobans purchase locally grown red table potatoes from a major retailer, they are purchasing potatoes through only these 13 growers because of Peak of the Market’s monopoly control.

Without a permit, a small potato producer in Manitoba is no longer allowed to sell their produce anywhere, including independent vegetable stands. Even with a permit, these producers will not be able to sell their potatoes to year-round vegetable stands, restaurant owners, or vegetable wholesalers. Under the new legislation, the only potatoes that can be supplied to these places have to come from Peak of the Market and their 13 growers.

Our hope is that Manitobans will join us in asking our provincial government to amend the legislation to be more fair for all Manitoba producers, allowing small potato producers to grow and sell up to five acres of potatoes each year without restrictions.

This post breaks things down nicely:

Here’s what it will mean to YOU this summer.
ALL MANITOBANS:

• With the new regulations introduced on March 31, 2010, you now have less choice when it comes to picking locally grown potatoes
• When you buy Manitoba grown red potatoes from a major retailer, you are only supporting Peak of the Market’s 13 member potato growers because of their monopoly control within Manitoba

Small Potato Growers:

• If you grow even as little as one acre of potatoes, you must apply to Peak of the Market for a permit
• You are permitted to sell only ‘freshly dug’ potatoes
• Your potatoes can only be sold in bulk (no pre-packaged bags)
• Any potatoes unsold by November 1 every year ‘must be given to a food bank’

Farmers’ Markets and Seasonal Vegetable Stands:

• Farmers wishing to sell potatoes must obtain a permit
• Potatoes can no longer be sold at any market after November 1 of each year
• Potatoes can now only be sold in ‘bulk’ (ie. no pre-packaged bags)

Year-Round Vegetable Stands:

• Under these new regulations, small potato producers are no longer allowed to sell to you

Restaurant Owners:

• If you wish to feature locally grown potatoes on your menu, they must now be purchased exclusively through Peak of the Market

Vegetable Wholesalers:

• If you want to sell Manitoba grown potatoes, they must now come exclusively from Peak of the Market

Good luck in the good fight, Erin! Why the Manitoba government thinks it has any business stopping her from buying potatoes from her preferred farmers... Canadian agriculture has a lot of problems.