The Rural Voice, 1979-10, Page 51The directors say:
Editor's note: Directors of any farm commodity group who'd like
to write an occasional letter to their members are invited to use
this space monthly in Rural Voice, free of charge, on a first come,
first served basis.
I appreciate the opportunity to com-
municate with egg producers and other
interested people through this column.
The current topic of interest is the quota
transfer policy that the Egg Board has been
working on for the last six months. The
Board's committee men met in Toronto on
Sept. 13 and approved the proposed policy
by a majority ' f 93%. A copy of,this policy
was sent to all registered egg producers at
the cnd of August. It is anticipated that if
government approval is forthcoming that
the transfer program could be in effect by
Nov. 1.
For those, who are not acquainted with
this transfer program, it is a set of
guidelines by which egg quota could be
transferred from one egg producer to
another. Except for the leasing program
which started at the beginning of 1978, the
only way that egg quota ownership could be
transferred was by transferring it along
with the land and facilities. Ontario egg
producers are still running at considerably
less than full capacity, so this transfer
program would allow some producers to
get more hens in their barns while letting
others out of the business without having
to sell their farms.
The big problem in all this, is the value
of quota. It should be pointed out that there
is a direct relationship between the cost of
leasing quota for one year and the cost of
ourtright purchase, given the amortization
period which you are willing to risk and the
interest rate. For example, at 14% interest
rate and amortization over 5 years, quota is
worth 3.9 times what the annual lease
value is. If quota is offered at higher
prices, it is cheaper to lease.
Since last December, we have been
negotiating with the pullet growers who
believe that they are becoming an en-
dangered species at the hands of the egg
producers. At this point, we have agreed to
license all pullet growers, but as yet the
Board has not reviewed any applications
for approval. The Board has also agreed to
accept one pullet grower on the Board of
directors; however this has not received
gov't. approval. Some kind of conversion
privilege, allowing pullet growers to buy
egg quota, is still to be negotiated. The
preceding negotiations have been brought
about by strong political pressure by the
pullet growers. In fact, the quota transfer
program has been delayed several months
because of this.
As you know, if you listen to your radio
at all, we are promoting eggs. The
Canadian Egg Marketing Agency is con-
tinuing its Canada wide promotion on TV
and radio. The Ontario Egg Board has also
conducted a summer advertising program
on radio, and mall and transit posters.
Approval has been given to our advertising
agency to continue advertising at the same
level in 1980 with emphasis towards more
sophisticated egg dishes for lunch and
dinner.
In order for this promotion program to
work, it is very important that egg
producers do their bit to ensure quality
eggs for consumers. The production of
clean eggs with good shell quality and a
properly maintained egg holding room are
the priorities.
We expect to hold another producer
dinner meeting towards the end of
November as we did last year at the White
Carnation. See you there.
By William J. Scott
Director for Huron County on
the Ontario Egg Producers
Marketing Board
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THE RURAL VOICE/OCTOBER 1979 PG. 49