A southern Alberta egg producer who had been jailed after missing a court date for violating the provincial laws governing egg production has passed a premises inspection by Egg Farmers of Alberta.
After spending two nights in jail as a result of missing court dates to compel his compliance with Alberta’s egg regulations, Henk Van Essen was released late last week, promising to let inspectors from Egg Farmers of Alberta inspect his operation, which is located between Turin and Iron Springs.
The agency is also seeking details on his sales volumes and his customers for the past four years.
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“It’s been a battle. Five RCMP cruisers came into my yard, which is quite a ways from the closest town,” said Van Essen, who had incubators hatching chicks at the time of his arrest.
Family members cared for the farm while he was incarcerated for two nights.
Van Essen said an inspector only spent a few minutes inside his operation before coming back out and telling him he was in full compliance.
“They were so sure they were going to find thousands of chickens in this barn,” Van Essen said.
Peter Waldner, chair of the Egg Farmers, conducted the inspection. In an email to The Western Producer, the producer organization said Van Essen had earlier confirmed to Waldner he was “well in excess of the 300 laying bird hen limit.”
“This cycle has been occurring for the past several years, where we hear that he has too many birds, he confirms it, so we work with him — and other stakeholders as necessary — until he gets back under that 300 laying hen limit,” wrote David Webb, communications manager for the Egg Farmers.
Van Essen estimated he has around 1,500 chicks and about 500 broiler chickens ready for slaughter but was not over the 300 laying hens limit.
“I’m just a little farmer trying to make a living,” he said.
“There is a big shortage of eggs (avian flu outbreaks in British Columbia and the United States), and all the existing producers just got another 10 per cent (quota) given to them, but they won’t let a little guy running a couple thousand chickens with the best eggs in town.”
The provincial producer group is responsible for managing the egg supply management system within Alberta, including the licensing of egg farmers and allotment of quota to them. It also coordinates the supply management system with other value chain participants to ensure eggs are moved from farms to grocery stores in a timely, safe, and efficient way.
EFA has a dedicated page on its website to provide information to unregulated egg producers where it clarifies the province’s egg production rules and regulations. The webpage also provides other information and resources about egg production and selling eggs, as well as directing visitors to more in-depth documentation from the provincial goverment.
Van Essen sells Canadian Food Inspection Agency-inspected and graded eggs under the Sundial Poultry label to grocery stores, as well as to friends and neighbours. The CFIA recently renewed his premise licence for two years for his free-run chickens. Van Essen also received Natural Resources Conservation board approval for up to 12,000 chickens (2,000 chicken layers, 5,000 chicken pullets, 5,000 chicken broilers) when he sought approval to build his barn.
Both Van Essen and the EFA confirmed there was ongoing conflict with each other over the last four years, including differing views on supply management system compliance and how the new entrant program is run, which allocates a percentage of new quota allocations to applicants in lots of up to 1,500 birds.
“They threw a man in jail who was actually in compliance,” said Van Essen. “I’m looking for change. My final goal is we need regulation changes.”
In particular he noted that the 300 bird limit was unchanged since 1972, while egg production has increased significantly.
Van Essen has had the support of many in his community.
“This guy has a passion for chickens. He has wanted to be a chicken farmer his whole life,” said neighbour Erik Sinke, who added locals refer to Van Essen as “Chicken Henk.”
The Alberta government said there are 150 registered egg producers with about two million hens producing roughly 49 million dozen eggs each year in the province.
