The Rural Voice, 1998-07, Page 20r
h more an
and the
tead of th
produ
-op to
ndustrial
ore eg
cessing
Itchen to
orms th
e in the
od marke
eading
lant,
le, a groups of
wn
ing
nd photos by Al
Led by a group of Huron
County egg farmers, Ontario
egg producers are breaking
into the processing business. They're
tired of sitting on the sidelines and
watching their profit margins decline.
In May, more than 65 egg
producers joined forces to form
Ontario's first egg co-operative.
Newgeneregg Farmers Co-
operative Inc. took shape after a
meeting at the end of May in
Holmesville, where the producers
each put down $500 to become
members of the new co-op. At the
meeting they also elected a board of
directors.
Brian Durst of Clinton who is chair
of the Huron County Egg Producers
Association was elected president.
Richard'Kootstra of Clinton is vice-
president, Roger Pelissero of the
Niagara Peninsula is secretary and
Larry Johnston of Auburn is
treasurer.
Since May more than 80 farmers
have joined up and interest is
growing, said Durst. "Our goal is to
be Ontario wide," he said. "But our
members are mostly from
Southwestern Ontario."
According to the Ontario Egg
Producers Marketing Board's figures,
there are 54 egg producers in Huron
County. That's close to 9% of the
total number of egg producers in the
province. These figures show there is
a lot of room to grow outside the
county.
The idea for the co-op came during
the board's annual meeting. At the
meeting farmers learned how a joint
venture in Manitoba is working to
benefit both egg producers and
processors.
Ralph Buffinga, an egg producer in
Clinton and one of the co-op's
original committee members, visited
Manitoba in March to talk to egg
producers there. He came back to
find local farmers interested in the
idea of a co-op.
"Egg producers think differently
today. Five or six years ago there was
ti
Brian Durst (above) is president of a new generation co-operative of egg producers who feel they must move beyond just
producing their eggs (above right) to getting a piece of the market for industrialized products.
16 THE RURAL VOICE