Why it matters: If broiler breeder hens stay fertile longer, farmers may be able to replace flocks less often. This could have animal welfare and efficiency benefits. 

Metformin is usually prescribed in humans for type 2 diabetes. It may also be used to treat polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) — a hormonal disorder that affects women and can cause irregular periods and infertility, among other symptoms. Metformin may be prescribed to increase insulin sensitivity and reduce excess hormones.

In a study published in 2023, Penn State researchers found that broiler breeder hens stay fertile and produce eggs longer if given a small daily dose of metformin.

Broiler breeder hens, which produce hatching eggs for meat chickens, rapidly decline in productivity as they age. This drop in fertile egg production resembles PCOS in humans, the university said in a May 7 article.

When given metformin, the hens laid more fertile eggs, had lower body fat and showed healthier reproductive hormone levels than those not given the drug.

This suggested metformin improved the hens’ ovarian function, said Ramesh Ramachandran, a professor of reproductive biology in the university’s College of Agricultural Studies.

Research published this year showed the drug “switched on” several genes related to producing yolk protein in the liver and stabilizing blood sugar. It also “switched off” genes linked to fat buildup.

“Essentially, metformin helps older hens stay metabolically healthier, which lets them keep producing eggs well beyond their usual decline,” said researcher Evelyn Weaver.

By extending egg production in broiler breeder hens, farmers may not need to replace flocks as often. This would have efficiency and animal welfare benefits, the researchers said.

Metformin is quickly metabolized and there’s no risk of it entering the human food supply, Weaver said.

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Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and caucus colleagues on Tuesday announced the specific contents of her previously-pledged $691 million, 10-year compensation funding envelope: a Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program and a Market Development Program for Turkey and Chicken.

“These two programs deliver on the promise our government made for full and fair compensation and are designed in direct response to industry demands,” Winnipeg MP Jim Carr, the federal cabinet’s special representative for the Prairies, said in a release.

“These compensation packages were an important part of the historic trade deal we struck with our Pacific trading partners, that has already been hugely beneficial to our export-reliant agricultural industries.”

On-farm investment

Under the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program, for which the intake of applications is to launch “later this spring,” chicken, turkey, egg and broiler hatching egg producers will share almost $630 million over 10 years.

Eligible producers will be entitled to an amount of on-farm investment based on their quota holdings as of Jan. 1, 2021, the government said in a release.

Projects eligible for cost-shared funding will be “anything that helps a producer modernize, become more competitive and adapt to changing consumer preferences,” for which the program will provide up to 70 per cent of the cost. For young producers — that is, age 35 or younger as of Jan. 1, 2021 — that ratio will run up to 85 per cent.

Producers can apply for funding under the program “whenever they are ready to invest,” the government said, and if applications exceed the program’s allocation for a given year, they may be approved to be reimbursed in a future fiscal year, so as to avoid delaying the start of the project.

The program will also consider eligible costs retroactive to the announcement of support for supply-managed sectors made on March 19, 2019 in that year’s federal budget.

However, the government cautioned that for such “retroactive activities,” the applicant assumes the risk of not being reimbursed if the project doesn’t get approved or the costs are deemed ineligible under the program.

Among the examples of eligible projects are new barn construction or upgrading equipment such as feeding, watering, lighting, ventilation, heating and comfort systems that will “promote energy efficiency and reduce environmental footprint.”

On-farm investment funding will be distributed starting in 2021-22, the government said, with $347.3 million allocated for chicken producers, $59.6 million for turkey producers, $134 million for egg producers and $88.6 million for broiler hatching egg producers over the 10-year period.

Among the examples of the sort of funding a producer could expect, the government said an “average” chicken farmer, who produces 448,202 kg per year, would have access to up to $122,411.

A turkey farmer producing 302,299 kg per year, could qualify for up to $114,195; an egg farmer producing 654,772 dozen eggs per year, $111,203; and a hatching egg producer who produces 3,413,983 eggs per year, $375,297.

Table: Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program’s expected allocation by region (in millions of dollars). Source: AAFC.

Market development

The government said Tuesday it would open the intake for applications to the Market Development Program for Turkey and Chicken that day. That program allocates $36.5 million for Turkey Farmers of Canada and $25 million for Chicken Farmers of Canada over 10 years.

The program is to help fund “promotional activities that differentiate Canadian-made products’ reputation for high-quality, safe and sustainably farmed food that adheres to strict animal welfare standards.”

Among examples of eligible activities given were:

• sector-wide advertising and promotion;
• promotional activities that “build public trust” in Canadian turkey and chicken products;
• market research;
• developing and/or expanding target audiences;
• increasing delivery of current market development activities;
• encouraging product development, product testing and research into new innovative processing and packaging technology at the primary and further-processing levels; and
• adapting current branding to meet “changing consumer expectations.”

Under the program, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada would provide 80 per cent funding for eligible projects, cost-shared with industry. AAFC also said it could provide up to 90 per cent funding for “specific projects aimed at promoting inclusiveness and diversity in the market development activities supported by the program.”

To access the funding, the two national industry organizations will submit a “multi-year strategy” to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for approval.

‘Long-term losses’

The four national feather sector organizations hailed Tuesday’s announcements, saying the funding will help Canadian farmers boost their competitiveness against imports from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) member nations.

“The combination of these programs will allow farmers to plan for the future, navigate the unique dynamics of our respective industries, and contribute to Canada’s goals of growing our agricultural sector,” the groups said in a separate release Tuesday.

The on-farm investment program, they said, “will in turn generate economic activity and investments in rural and urban communities across Canada at a time where our small businesses are hurting, and our local economies need it the most.”

The market development program, they added, will allow the chicken and turkey sectors to “enhance consumer engagement and continue to promote Canadian-made products to Canadians.”

“Today’s announcement offers new opportunities for our farmers to reinvest in their operations and plan for the future as they navigate the long-term market losses under the CPTPP agreement,” Egg Farmers of Canada chair Roger Pelissero said Tuesday in the government’s release.

The government said it also “remains committed to engaging the sector on full and fair compensation” for market share ceded separately under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the successor pact to NAFTA.

Further, the government said Tuesday it also “remains committed to addressing the impacts of recent trade agreements on processors,” as farmers and processors “depend on each other to be successful.”

Dairy payouts

Separately, the government announced last week it had seen 9,682 dairy farmers register for the second year of the Dairy Direct Payment Program, that sector’s compensation program for market share ceded in the CPTPP and Canada-European Union (CETA) trade pacts.

Payments to that group would total $459.4 million, the government said, bringing the total payout so far up to $813 million from the program’s $1.75 billion envelope.

The government said in November it would shorten the dairy program’s payment schedule to four years, down from the eight-year timeline announced in 2019, and instead complete all payments by 2023. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The federal and Ontario governments on Monday last week announced up to $141,450 through the Place to Grow: Agri-food Innovation Initiative, a Canadian Agricultural Partnership program, for the Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg and Chick Commission (OBHECC).

The upgrades, they said, are expected to reduce costs by “further automating data inputting processes” and allowing other systems, such as on-farm sensors, to “seamlessly” connect and upload new data.

“This progressive solution will reduce overhead and increase the overall efficiency of the hatchery supply chain while building value and serving the chicken industry’s needs of sustainable, safe and high-quality products,” OBHECC executive director Bill Van Heeswyk said in a joint release last week.

“This investment ensures chicken farmers are equipped with up-to-date and efficient traceability tools, which are essential to maintaining strong businesses and to strengthening public trust in food safety and quality,” federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in the same release.

The OBHECC project is one of about 2,500 in Ontario to receive Canadian Agricultural Partnership funding since June 2018.

In Ontario, cost-share program funding to agriculture and value chain organizations via the partnership flows through the Place to Grow program, whose next application intake runs from Jan. 6 to 27.

Place to Grow, the governments said, “encourages greater collaboration to identify opportunities and address challenges in the sector.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The 2-1/2-minute long video shows catchers from Elite Farm Services kicking, throwing, and simulating sexual acts with broiler chickens on a farm in B.C.’s Fraser Valley.

Erna Ference, chair of the Alberta Chicken Producers, watched the video, and like many other producers in the province, was disturbed by what she saw.

“It was upsetting,” said Ference, who raises broiler chickens with her husband near Black Diamond. “But they’re just little snippets and you see them over and over again.

“I think it’s wrong to paint the whole industry (as abusive). It’s very unfortunate.”

The B.C. Chicken Producers marketing board has been inundated with calls and has been co-ordinating actions with the Society for Protection of Cruelty to Animals, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

“I think they’re handling it quite well, but they’re hearing a lot,” said Ference.

The Alberta Chicken Producers, and Ference herself, have a good relationship with the chicken catchers and processors, and consider them as partners. Her organization regularly meets with the companies that provide catching crews, and Ference expects there will be discussion of the video and its contents along with what steps have been taken to address the incident at the next meeting (scheduled for the fall).

“We think it’s really unfortunate that that one catching crew has been held up as what the catching industry is like, because that hasn’t been what we’ve seen happen, or had anything reported,” she said.

The B.C. chicken abuse video resulted in the firing of six employees from Elite Farm Services, and the investigation is ongoing.

“I think it’s like any time you hire a crew or an organization — you expect them to fulfil their obligations as part of their employment contract,” she said.

Ference’s catchers are also from Elite Farm Services, and she said she has never witnessed any abuse.

“We’ve found the catchers to be very courteous and very respectful. I can’t imagine that happening.”

Elite Farm Services president Dwayne Dueck has suggested that in the future, some employees may have to wear body cameras to record their treatment of the birds. Ference had heard of this, but had not heard any further details. But the issue needs to be addressed in some manner, said Ference.

“If something is pointed out as being wrong or missed, the industry has an obligation to look into it and try to do a better job, and part of that is education,” she said.

Alberta has three big chicken processors (Lilydale, Maple Leaf and Sunrise) and each contract chicken catching companies. Ference said she expects the Chicken Farmers of Canada will take further action or introduce an initiative in response to the video.

But despite the understandably negative fallout, she said the response has not been entirely one sided. She pointed to an interview she did with an Edmonton radio station about the matter, saying the interviewer asked fair and balanced questions. The radio host also told her that the station had received calls from many farmers who were upset by the cruel treatment of birds in the video.

“I was very happy to hear many producers speaking out and saying, ‘This isn’t acceptable, this isn’t something we see, and what happened in B.C. was an exception,’” she said.

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Restaurant Brands International (RBI) announced on its website it will be “pursuing alignment” with Global Animal Partnership (GAP) standards for broiler birds in the U.S. and Canada.

Texas-based GAP’s standards and rating program for broilers, graded 1 through 5+, include set requirements for housing, stocking densities, feeding, breeding and animal care, among other line items. RBI didn’t say on its website which GAP “step level” it expects to achieve in broiler care.

The company said that by 2024 it would “transition to using breeds determined to have better welfare outcomes.”

The company said it would also require its suppliers, by 2024, to provide their birds with more space by reducing maximum stocking density, as per GAP standards, and “enhance living environments including litter quality, lighting and enrichments,” also as per GAP standards.

GAP step levels vary by maximum stocking density, ranging from five to seven pounds of bird per square foot of barn space at step levels 5/5+ and 1 respectively.

In GAP terms, “enrichments” in barns include materials provided to chickens such as bales, forages and/or raised platforms, to “add complexity to their environment and encourage the expression of natural behaviour, such as foraging, without losing their novelty.”

Also, barn lighting would be shut down to allow for six or eight hours, depending on step level, of “continuous darkness” each day for the birds to rest.

RBI also said that for broiler slaughter it would require the use of a “multi-step controlled-atmosphere stunning system” by 2024.

“To increase the welfare of broiler chickens, we recognize that wide-scale change will take time and must be undertaken in a thoughtful manner using best practices supported by science and rigorous research,” RBI said on its website.

The GAP standards offer “solutions” in the areas of breed, stocking density and environment, RBI said, “and we will work with our suppliers, animal welfare experts and others in our industry, to align on these solutions.”

Suppliers will be asked to “verify their progress via third party auditing,” said Oakville, Ont.-based RBI, which last month announced a bid to expand into the fried chicken market with a US$1.8 billion offer for the Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen chain.

RBI’s announcement follows a pledge earlier this month from Canadian fast food chain A+W that it would immediately require its broiler suppliers to follow GAP step level 2 for stocking density and require other “enhancements” for natural bird behaviour in barns.

Animal welfare groups on Tuesday hailed RBI’s announcement.

Josey Kitson, executive director of World Animal Protection Canada (formerly the World Society for the Protection of Animals) described it as “the most substantial commitment to improving chicken welfare we’ve seen to date in Canada… and for it to come from such iconic brands is a meaningful indication of where Canadian food companies are heading.”

Krista Hiddema, vice-president of Mercy For Animals in Canada, said it’s “certainly a testament to the times that two of Canada’s largest quick-service brands are committed to meeting GAP standards, and we are confident the rest of the Canadian food industry will soon follow.”

While Hiddema said in the group’s statement that it was “so pleased to work with Burger King and Tim Hortons to develop their progressive broiler welfare policies,” she added that “the best way for individual consumers to prevent cruelty to chickens and other farmed animals is to simply leave them off their plate.” — AGCanada.com Network

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On top of its existing requirements for raising birds on grain-based diets without the use of antibiotics, the company on Friday announced it would require a new maximum stocking density for birds in its barns “beginning now.”

The new stocking densities, A+W said, call for all its supplying farmers to maintain barn density levels that “meet or exceed” the standard set out in the Global Animal Partnership’s step level 2.

As per GAP step level 2, stocking density, based on average weight of all chickens per flock per area at the time of catching and loading, must not exceed 6.5 lbs. per square foot for birds placed on or after Oct. 1, 2014.

The company said Friday it would also now require introduction of “physical enhancements that best allow for natural bird behaviour, while preserving an antibiotic-free environment.”

A+W, in its release, didn’t specify what kind of enhancements it would require, though the GAP calls for “enrichments” that “add complexity” to the birds’ environments and encourage expression of natural behaviour “without losing their novelty.”

The GAP’s examples include items such as straw or hay bales, raised platforms and “provision of forages or brassicas” and scattered grains. Items such as perches, litter and dust baths aren’t considered enrichments under the GAP.

Also, items such as pipes or PVC tubing that “quickly lose their novelty and/or go unused by the chickens” aren’t considered acceptable.

A+W also said it would now require producers to ensure at least six hours of darkness in their barns “so chickens can rest better at night.”

“We want to continuously raise the bar in animal welfare to ensure animals are treated with respect,” A+W president Susan Senecal said in the company’s release.

“Today, we have elevated our standards to include some new ones. It all adds up to a better life.”

A+W noted it also uses breeds of birds that can thrive in broiler barns with “optimal” health, raised to a weight “best for maintaining mobility and leg and foot health.”

The company noted the University of Guelph is in the midst of a study “to determine whether there may be breeds of chickens better suited for Canadian farms” and “looks forward to the results of this study.” — AGCanada.com Network

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During the Super Bowl game alone, one billion wings are consumed along with an ocean of beer. Canadians are right in there chowing down on the once tossed tidbit, and continue to eat a few birds each year themselves.

In the U.S., wings sales top US$839 million each year with cooked wings from the deli bringing in another $633 million. The hotter the wing, the hotter the demand — and sales of the scorchers prove it to be so.

But the real flight in wings is in the natural and organic categories with sales of natural wings up more than 90 per cent and organic chicken wings up 21 per cent to 46 per cent (depending on the region in the U.S.).

• More with Brenda Schoepp on the Alberta Farmer: Some emerging trends that we need to pay attention to

It is pretty obvious that the wing platter is no longer just for the beer-guzzling sport fanatic as now 30 per cent of all classes of restaurants offer a winged plate.

Canadians and Americans alike love chicken and 90 per cent of them eat it regularly. In Canada per capita consumption is strong at 31.86 kilograms annually, with more than 60 per cent of the birds being produced in Ontario and Quebec.

What has changed with chicken is the way it is raised and how quickly it grows.

Certainly there are condemned wings but there is also a problem with one out of every 10 birds having a ‘woody’ breast (with hard or woody fibres in the meat). The problem has scientists and nutritionists scratching their heads, but it looks like a little slower growing period at the front end along with diet changes could circumvent a lot of the issue.

Consider that in 1925 it took almost 45 days for a broiler to gain a pound of weight. Today it takes 7.7 days for the same performance. And, the birds are bigger. In 1925, the average finished broiler was a featherweight at 2.5 pounds while the same bird today weighs in at 6.24 pounds.

Woody breast is particularly evident in these heavier birds. Much of this product ends up ground.

Still, with nearly 90 per cent of Canadians and Americans eating chicken, it is easy to see why all portions of the bird, and particularly wing sales, are taking flight. And sales have managed to hold their own despite year-on-year increases in chicken prices.

But that steady price has created its own set of problems.

Lawsuits filed in Chicago claim that a group of large chicken processors, which collectively controls 90 per cent of the chicken production in the U.S., has colluded to keep prices high. The claim is that these companies co-ordinated contracts and plant closures, and even broke eggs and killed hens to control the supply. The lawsuit alleges that’s driven up prices by 50 per cent since 2008.

These companies are praying they stay out of the pen but it is hard to reconcile the massive increase in productivity with the rising cost of chicken. The squawking has attracted a flock of lawyers that is circling the wagons. And yet, despite all the flapping, and the suspicion and worry about co-ordinated supply – folks are still buying a lot of chicken — and they are especially fond of wings at home, in the restaurant and at the deli counter.

Let us hope that the investigations do not uncover the unnecessary destruction of eggs and hens that is outside of normal business practice. If found, the industry itself may find new regulations that make the cost of business more expensive and with the transparency involved, will experience some difficulty passing that along to the consumer. Woody breast may involve the production of a little smaller bird and that could also influence supply. There is a host of possibilities here.

An old argument of what comes first — the chicken or the egg — could tie up this case in the courts for years.

But there is one thing for certain: An industry that can sell chicken balls, chicken fingers and flavoured wings (that are mostly bone) while folks pay a premium for those meals has some creative minds in the home office. When it all comes to roost, I imagine folks will still eat chicken — particularly Canadian chicken, whether in conventional, natural and organic form — because they want to.

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The federal government said Friday it plans to launch consultations with “industry stakeholders” over potential changes to its Duties Relief Program (DRP) and Import for Re-Export Program.

It’s hoped such changes will “address the concerns of import predictability and effective border controls for supply-managed commodities,” the government said, while making sure Canadian processors using dairy and poultry ingredients can “remain competitive in export markets.”

The DRP, for example, is meant to allow eligible companies to import goods without paying duties — as long as said goods are later exported. The Import for Re-Export Program is meant specifically for dairy, poultry and egg products, which in Canada are supply-managed.

The Canada Border Services Agency earlier this year found five participants in the DRP were “improperly” selling supply-managed commodities in the Canadian market without reporting the sales or paying required duties, the government said.

Those importers’ DRP licenses were suspended, the government said, and the companies were slapped with “applicable duties, interest and penalties.”

The government said Friday it will also consider measures for dairy and poultry users of the DRP regarding inventory reporting, so as to “improve the predictability of these imports.”

In the poultry sector, the government said it would work to “ensure appropriate tariff classification” of spent fowl — meat from layer hens that no longer lay eggs — by looking at “specific” options for certification of those imports.

Because spent fowl meat can be imported duty-free, some importers are suspected to have been declaring broiler chicken meat as spent fowl meat, the government said.

“Our farmers and processors have been afflicted by leakages in the market that have been occurring for many years now, meaning they face uncertainty in their own production, and consumers face uncertainty in the safety of their food,” Dave Janzen, chair of Chicken Farmers of Canada, said Friday in a separate release.

Addressing these issues won’t affect the “significant” amount of legal imports of chicken, CFC said, noting Canada today is the 13th-largest importer of chicken in the world.

Officials are also “assessing the feasibility” of DNA tests to screen imports of spent fowl at the border, the government said.

That assessment would look at the test’s cost and the “operational feasibility” of the test’s use in the field. It would also involve “scientific validation” of the test, working with other federal departments, industry stakeholders and Trent University.

CFC on Friday pointed to several holes it would like to see plugged in the Duties Relief Program, including marinated products, which were banned from the Import to Re-export Program due to concerns over the “possible diversion to the domestic market” but are permitted under the DRP.

Participants have up to four years to re-export the chicken they’ve imported, CFC said, and imported products could illicitly be substituted with “lower-value cuts, and even spent fowl.”

CFC said the DRP essentially “duplicates” the Import to Re-export Program, which was created specifically for agricultural goods and has in place “adequate verification and safeguard processes.”

The previous Conservative federal government pledged in October last year to exclude any dairy, poultry and egg tariff lines subject to tariff rate quotas (TRQs) from the DRP, the chicken producer group said.

“Canada’s government must move quickly to enact this change and ensure that no further damage occurs from the misuse of the Duties Relief Program.” — AGCanada.com Network

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