Egg Farmers of Canada, Chicken Farmers of Canada, Turkey Farmers of Canada and Canadian Hatching Egg Producers, in a recent release, said they believed at the start of 2020 that the federal government would have in place “full and fair support” to mitigate CPTPP’s impacts, but they are still “awaiting the details of these programs and initiatives.”

The groups said March 5 their members could lose billions of dollars in net operating income as a result of the CPTPP, because the deal opened up the Canadian domestic market to the pact’s partner countries.

While a working group created by the federal government has been set up to find how to best deliver an industry investment fund for compensation, no announcements have been made about what specifically will be offered.

“We appreciate the government’s repeated vocal support for supply management, but find the current situation worrisome. Our farmers have been patient and co-operative, and need to see concrete action,” the groups said.

“The lack of movement on this file is concerning, especially since recommendations were put forward to the federal government almost a year ago.”

Poultry and egg farmers are calling on the federal government to “uphold its commitment and announce the programs that provide full and fair support to Canada’s poultry and egg sectors as they absorb the impacts of the CPTPP.”

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau continues to voice support for supply management but has not given any timeline for when remaining compensation for CPTPP and other trade deals, such as the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), will be offered to affected producers.

“We are delivering on our commitment to provide full and fair compensation in support of supply-managed farmers, as a result of commitments made under CPTPP and CETA,” Bibeau’s office said in a statement.

“Through the Poultry and Egg Working Group we worked in partnership with the sectors to understand their views on how to respond to CETA and CPTPP in the most fair and effective way possible.”

Her office added it is working to ensure compensation “is made available as quickly as possible.”

The 2019 federal budget promised $3.9 billion in funding for eligible dairy, poultry and egg farmers to deal with impacts of CETA and CPTPP.

The federal government last August announced $1.75 billion over eight years would be paid directly to Canada’s nearly 11,000 dairy farmers to compensate them for CETA and CPTPP.

While dairy farmers asked for direct payments, poultry and egg producers have requested funds for investment to improve and expand farm businesses, and for domestic market development.

It’s not yet known whether the next budget, due out March 30, will include further detail on how other sectors will be compensated.

— D.C. Fraser reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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“Egg consumption is up in Canada, and all-day breakfasts have been the main driver,” said Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the agri-food analytics lab at Dalhousie University.

“Eggs are primarily consumed in the morning, and now all of a sudden, we have many Canadians consuming eggs all day long. It’s allowed the commodity to expand its own market.”

That’s certainly the case in Alberta, where the total hen allotment has surged — to 2.5 million hens last year from a little over two million hens in 2014.

“We’ve had a steady increase in quota over the last five years, and that makes it a little easier to expand,” said Beatrice Visser, chair of Egg Farmers of Alberta. “Growth is always a positive thing.”

Things really took off in 2017, when fast-food giants like McDonald’s and A&W began offering egg-based breakfast sandwiches after 11 a.m.

Consumers jumped on the breakfast-for-dinner bandwagon.

In the first year of offering all-day breakfasts, sales of egg-based products were up 25 per cent at McDonald’s, or 35 million more eggs than were sold in 2016. Last year, Canadians consumed more than 700 million breakfast sandwiches, an eight per cent increase from 2016.

As a result, egg sales in 2018 saw a six per cent increase over 2017, marking a dozen straight years of growth. And during that time, per capita egg consumption has increased by 28 per cent.

“The all-day breakfasts have really changed the face of the industry,” said Visser, who farms near Barrhead. “It’s caused the industry to grow already, and if this trend continues, it will probably grow some more.”

‘Favourable messaging’

But the story isn’t just about the change in Canadians’ fast-food preferences. Eggs have also benefited from a PR makeover in recent years.

Once linked to heart disease because of their cholesterol levels, eggs have regained traction as a healthy, inexpensive protein and processed food ingredient.

“Over the last two years, eggs have benefited from favourable scientific messaging,” said Charlebois. “Generally speaking, eggs are now looked upon very favourably by the nutrition community. A lot of studies are now encouraging people to eat more eggs.”

And as consumers begin to recognize that cholesterol from eggs is not necessarily bad for them, they’re shifting their diets to include more eggs and egg-based products.

“The wary consumer is now feeling free to purchase eggs and eat more eggs,” said Visser. “Eggs are convenient and delicious and not really expensive.

“So they’ve really taken off as an option.”

Recent changes to Canada’s Food Guide reflect that, Charlebois added.

“I’m not surprised that eggs have gained in popularity. Eggs are now seen as a very natural and quite convenient ingredient for many food products.”

Though eggs aren’t as prominent in the new guide as they were in the old, they still have a “starring role,” said Tim Lambert, chief executive officer of Egg Farmers of Canada.

“At the end of the day, Canada’s Food Guide is all about getting Canadians the nutrition they need,” he said.

“Egg consumption has been on the rise for a dozen years, and we hope to see this positive trend continue as Canadians focus on whole, natural foods as part of a balanced diet.”

As the Food Guide’s focus shifts from a mandated number of servings a day to a more portion-based plan, the next generation of consumers “may look at eggs very differently,” said Charlebois.

“It will be interesting to see how Canadians actually react to the Food Guide and how it’s structured now, but overall, I think most Canadians will continue to consume eggs on a regular basis,” he said.

The growing local food movement will also help with that, said Visser.

In recent years, egg farmers have increased their connection with consumers by sharing information about egg production and nutrition at grocery stores, elementary schools, and even the Calgary Stampede.

“That’s actually helped a lot. People can ask a farmer their questions directly and gain confidence in the food that they’re eating,” said Visser.

“It gives them peace of mind — talking to those farmers, looking them in the eyes, and knowing that they feed those eggs to their families as well. It makes them feel better knowing the farmer is comfortable eating those eggs.”

But the old perception that eggs are unhealthy is still “hovering over the industry’s head,” Charlebois added, saying the sector will need to continue to address that if it hopes to see its sales trends continue.

“For egg producers, increased sales are obviously good news, but there are headwinds coming,” said Charlebois.

“Overall, it’s been a good two years for eggs. But it’s difficult to say whether this trend will continue.”

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“Any form of abuse, neglect, cruelty, or mistreatment of the birds under our care will not be tolerated and may be grounds for immediate disciplinary action up to and including dismissal,” the pledge states.

Any farm that has severe animal welfare issues — like the instances seen in a now infamous Mercy for Animals video shot on an Alberta poultry operation — can have its egg-production licence suspended immediately.

“The zero tolerance to animal abuse was an unwritten policy before, but we’ve put it in there to make sure that everybody has a very strong understanding of what abuse means,” said Susan Schafers, chair of the Egg Farmers of Alberta.

“If there ever was to be a problem, we have a way to deal with it, rather than dealing with it on a case-by-case basis.”

The farm welfare policy, which along with animal welfare also covers areas such as biosecurity, came into effect in August, and has been strengthened since then.

“We’ve really gone beyond the code of practice requirements,” said Christina Robinson, producer services manager for the Egg Farmers of Alberta.

As of Jan. 1, producers must document daily barn inspections and abide by new handling, catching and loading guidelines for moving birds.

The new policy follows in the wake of one of the most publicized cases of abuse in the Canadian poultry industry — a 2013 undercover video shot by Mercy for Animals at Kuku Farms and Creekside Grove Farms near Edmonton.

It showed workers euthanizing chicks by striking their heads against a hard surface and tossing birds that were still alive into garbage bags. It also showed birds suffering from severe feather loss crammed into crowded cages.

‘Irresponsible treatment’

The video, which was aired on CTV’s “W5” in October 2013 and attracted national media coverage, prompted the Egg Farmers of Canada to commission the Center for Food Integrity in Kansas City to review it.

Although the three-person panel — which included University of Calgary animal welfare professor Ed Pajor — said it wasn’t possible to assess the operations based on the brief scenes in the video, they also stated those scenes “clearly show unethical and irresponsible treatment of animals.”

“It’s unacceptable and is not supported by any code of practice that I’m aware of,” Pajor said, following the panel’s review. “The rough handling, method of euthanasia, and quality of cage inspection are serious animal welfare concerns in this video.”

But Schafers said the new zero-tolerance policy, initiated by Egg Farmers of Canada, has been in the works for a long time and wasn’t a reaction to the incidents at KuKu and Creekside Grove farms.

“The KuKu incident has certainly brought some awareness to the whole industry, but Mercy for Animals Canada has done exposés on a lot of agricultural industries,” said the Stony Plain-area producer. “Everybody has an increased level of awareness.”

“We were reviewing the final draft of the policy in August and September, before we even knew the video was coming out,” added Robinson. “It may have pushed it up a bit, but it was still in the works.”

Pledge applauded

Pajor said the Calgary Stampede is the only other organization he knows of that pledges a zero-tolerance approach on an animal welfare issue.

“The zero-tolerance pledge isn’t something that comes to my mind as being common,” he said in an interview. “Where it is included in other types of assessments is that there is zero tolerance towards wilful acts of abuse during assessments and audits. A lot of assessments and audits will include automatic failure at the farm if there is abuse. But the idea of pledging zero tolerance for something is not something that I’ve seen a lot of.”

Pajor approves of the yearly signing of the pledge.

“Because they’re supply managed, they can actually control the licensing. What is good about the pledge is that it is an annual reminder of making sure that this is on people’s radar screen.”

As part of an animal care program introduced in 2004, producers are subject to regular audits on their farm. As of last year, producers need to obtain a score of 90 per cent to be licensed to sell eggs.

The Egg Farmers of Alberta has also created a policy for staff who witness animal abuse or cruelty.

“If any field inspectors or our staff are on farm and we see something that’s unacceptable, we now have a clear process on what to do to ensure that immediate action is taken to deal with the issue,” said Robinson.

The Egg Farmers of Alberta is still audited using a three-step audit process — a commonly used model in commodity organizations that have on-farm audits, said Pajor.

Anything that is causing immediate welfare concerns, such as injury or mortality to the bird, needs to be addressed as soon as possible, whereas minor adjustments to equipment have a different timeline.

Elements are weighted differently and the signed zero-tolerance pledge is now considered an essential part of the scoring.

Audits are conducted by inspectors from the Egg Farmers of Canada, with about one-third of audits to be completed by a third party. Audits are scheduled ahead of time because of the challenge of visiting farms spread throughout Alberta, but producers are not given a lot of advance warning before visits.

Egg producers must also have their employees sign a code of conduct, that sets out what is expected of them in terms of providing proper animal care. Employees must also promise to report any improper animal care they observe to their farm manager.

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