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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1976-03-10, Page 2Page 2 - Citizens News, March 10/76 No facts to back up To most of us, eggs are some- thing to be picked up once a week with the groceries, neatly packed in,.a, dozen carton and stamped with price tag of about eight cents each. Taken 'home most end up on the table fried, boiled,poached or scrambled while a few make their way into some baking. But for Bill Mickle of Hensall, a director of the Ontario Egg Producers Marketing Board, eggs are a little more complicat- ed. A storehouse of facts on egg production and marketing, Bill points out that the average Canadian consumes 19 dozen eggs a year. That's considerably below the American average and much lower than the average in Israel and Japan. egg consum',tion has slipped in recent years. Mr. MickiL has been an egg producer since 1953 when he started out with a flock of 3,000 hens. Toth,' . he s the largest producer in Huron county with a basic quota of 44,200 hens. In 1970, Mr. Mickle was first elected as a committeeman for HMO!' County, ane of fourteen. and since 1972, has been Huron County's representative on the provincial egg marketing board. He's been through good times and bad, embarrassing moments and proud moments. Most consumers, even rural p eoplc including farmers, don't have a very clear idea of how eggs are produced or marketed. Reviewing the history of egg producers, Mr. Mickle related how in the early 1960's. the Ontario Egg and Fowl Producers Marketing Board was formed. The group was mainly used as an information source and a means for egg producers to get together to discuss mutual problems. Later in 1971, then Agriculture Minister William Stewart assigned Judge Ross to an inquiry since the egg producers were asking for a marketing board. Judge Ross travelled across the province taking submissions and after his report was sub- mitted, the government. in April 1972 announced the formation of the Ontario Egg Producers Marketing Board. The first directors were ap- pointed by the province and were responsible for market quotas, price and levies. Each producer was assigned a quota based on an average from January 1969 to April 1972. . Only producers with 500 or more hens were required to work under the board. At present there are 1.200 regulated producers in Ontario. At the same time, towards the end of 197 :, federal authori- ties brought into being the Canadian Egg Marketing associa- tion, known as CEMA. The agree- ment giving CEMA its authority was a producer appointed by the provincial board, a member of the supervisory board and the Minister of Agriculture in each province. Ontario p r oducers, providing 38.16 percent of the Canadian production, were allowed only equal representation as provinces with much lower production. Some Ontario producers felt this was unfair and still do. It is being brought up presently as the nation agreement is being renegotiated. COST STUDY One of the duti(s of the Carta- dian Egg Marketing Association was to set the price producers were entitled to charge for eggs and to do this it was necessary to have guidelines, In the summer of 1973, a committee was formed to study the cost of production and Bill Mickle was named chairman. Other members were appointed from Nova Scotia, Manitoba and British Columbia. "We visited every province in Canada talking to boards and producers, about 60 producers in all," said Mr. Mickle. "Feed prices varied quite a bit across Canada at that time but we came up with a pretty fair cost of production." Later in 1973, Beryl Plumptre attacked the cost of production formula charging that it was not acceptable because it was done by the producers. To combat the criticism, CEMA .arranged for the firm of P. S. Ross to conduct an independent survey. "We weren't that far off the results that P. S. Ross came up with," says Mr. Mickle. "The Ross formula is the one currently being attacked by the Consumers Association of Canada." INQUIRY EXPLAINED Touching on the present hearings into egg prices by the National Farm Products Market- ing Council, Mr. Mickle's re- action to the proceedings so far is "astonishing." Mr. Mickle attended the hearings first Session in Ottawa to help submit the brief of the Ontario Egg Producers Marketing Board and was on board to hear the submission of the Consumers Association of Canada. "I was just astonished at the three professors who testified for the C.A.C." said Mr. Mickle. "They made a lot of statements but had no facts to back then/ up. The formula they were criticizing studied 60 producers and vet they only talked to a handful. It was a very weak submission." The hearings went to Regina following the Ottawa session and will conclude in Fredricton, New Brunswick on March 9 and 10. "The report of the Farm .Products Marketing Council will likely go to Whelen (the federal agriculture minister) and will be made public," said Mr. Mickle. Mr. Mickle said he felt that the national press realized the weakness of the CAC brief and have gained confidence in the credibility of CEMA. "I think this hearing itself will be a major victory for national and provincial commodity groups and their credibility with the consumer," said Mr. Mickle. LOOKING BACK In the early 1970's egg pro- ducers had a very rough time, according to Mr. Mickle. "Producers were selling eggs at 19 cents a dozen which cost them 30 to 31 cents a dozen to produce," said Mr. Mickle. "Soule independent producers are still baling themselves out from the losses." He explained that losses were shared by contract pro- ducers who contract with pullet and feed suppliers. The bad times weeded out a lot of pro- ducers. In 1973 and 1974, there was a big jump in egg prices but Mr. Mickle explained it was due to the fact that feed prices doubled. Feed prices nia.le up 60 percent of the cost of egg production, he said. Egg prices in Ontario are presently stable and have not gone up in price since December. Mr. Mickle, explaining how the board works, said producers are controlled as to how many hens they may keep. This control is worked out so that the supply of eggs will not exceed the demand. The producer is paid a graded "at the farm gate" price of 69 cents a dozen for A large, 72 cents for extra large, 67 cents for medium and 46 cents for small. The price is then increased by 23 cents in Ontario, divided by the egg grading station and the retailer. The grade is allowed 13 cents and the retailer can set his own price at less than the 13 centsmarkup if he desires. Grade A eggs account for 93 percent of production. The rest are B's or C's, and cracks. All but A's are used for dry or powdered eggs which end up in cake mixes, ice cream or other commercial products. When more grade A eggs than are needed for the table market, the board buys eggs back from the egg graders at seven cents a dozen more than the "at the gate" price and then sells them on the breaker or commercial market at 30 to 35 cents per dozen less than is normally received. egg charges The board charges a levy on each dozen eggs sold and this is used to pay the loss on the sale of surplus A eggs as breakers and also for advertising and administration of the board. IMPORT PROBLEM Eggs coming into Ontario from the United States are a problem. The allowable amount EGG BOOSTER—Bill Mickle of Hensall, a director of the Ontario Egg Producers Marketing Board, holds up a tray of fresh eggs which he says is the cheapest way to buy protein by the pound. News Photo of eggs from the US has recently ,been increased from 54,000 cases a year to 100,000 cases a year, Almost all of the import conies into Ontario. Although it represents only ,6 percent of the national total of 14,600,000 cases or 438,000,000 dozen eggs it is still enough to cause problems. Under present legislation importers of eggs must have a permit, issued only with the agreement of CSMA. If American egg prices drop lower than Canadian, importers bring them across the border and take the profit for them • - selves. CEMA feel that it should be allowed to import eggs itself, slaking a profit. This profit then would be used to import eggs if necessary when prices are higher than in Canada. AREA PRODUCTION At present there are about 120 producers in Huron county ranging from 500 bird size right up to Mr. Mickle's 45,000 birds. In total there arc about 900,000 birds in Huron. Middlesex county is the largest in Ontario with Huron and Lanlbton each competing for second spot. The three counties make up about 30 percent of the provincial production. If a producer wants to sell his quota, he must sell to the board at 31.26 per bird. The board then resells 70% of the quota for 19.80 per bird to keep the production in line with the demand. A producer can sell to a private individual if he sells his entire operation, buildings and all, and the buyer does not control another quota. The Ontario Egg Producers Marketing Board has been working on public relations recently. It works with schools, women's groups as well as at fairs and events such as the plowing match. Egg consumption is fairly constant but has a peak just prior to Christmas when a great deal of baking is done. 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