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MARKETING BOARDS
VERSES ORGANICS - THE ISSUES The BC Egg Marketing Board is suing Olera Farms for over $93,000. Olera Farms is working towards certifying a class action suit against the BC Egg Marketing Board. At the same time we are appealing to the BC Marketing Board that organic production has the legal right to remain outside of marketing board systems or at least the control of the conventional marketing boards. Why would a small farm in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia face such risks against such a powerful farm organization as marketing boards? After three strait months of legal costs over $10,000/month I am beginning to wonder the same myself. Marketing boards have huge financial clout and represent the biggest farm lobby in Canada. The fight is hopeless with out the support of the consumers who advocate change in the way agriculture is practiced in this country. The issues are huge for organic production in Canada. More than just eggs are involved. The Turkey Marketing Board has attempted to shut down Organa Farms, which is presently producing approximately 2000 certified organic turkeys per year. The marketing board (which is producing no organic turkeys) will not allow more than 25 turkeys per year outside the quota system. The vegetable marketing board is presently trying to develop regulations for organic production that would put control of such crops as certified organic potatoes, onions, carrots and green house crops under the control of the conventional industry. The issue is not limited to British Columbia. Rosemary Giberson of Poplar Bluff Farm in Strathmore, Alberta has incurred large legal expenses fighting for her right to have 600 certified organic layers to serve the Calgary market. They await the outcome of the battle in British Columbia. Organic grain farmers have lobbied for years to not pay levies to the Canadian Wheat Board, which has done nothing to assist the development of the organic production and marketing systems. The issue does not just affect farmers. The consumer of organic products can expect to pay more if the control of organic production falls into the hands of the conventional industry. The levies charged and the prices set by marketing boards will increase the cost of an already high priced product, with none of this increased cost benefiting the organic farmer or the organic consumer. Experience of the marketing of organic chicken and eggs under the marketing board system in eastern Canada has demonstrated that the supply of the organic product would be greatly reduced. The egg board in BC has said they want the farms to be able to move from organic production to free range or free run production as the marketplace dictates. Encouraging this process has inevitably led to the conversion of farms back to conventional production. Having organic production controlled by conventional producers will lead to the erosion of the organic standard. The BC egg producers and the BC vegetable producers have both admitted that they opted for out of province organic standards because the organic standard in BC was too stringent. Why is this fight so important to the marketing boards? It cannot be just about a market place threat. Organic production still represents less than 2 percent of all egg production in BC and less than half of one percent across Canada. The percent of animal and poultry production represented by certified organic agriculture across Canada would hardly register on any scale. This battle is much more important to them because it represents an alternative to their form of agricultural production. They want to control rather then foster types of agriculture that encourage more humane treatment of animals and more environmentally sound practices. Control of organic agriculture by conventional agriculture would allow them to limit rather than promote alternative forms of agriculture. I find it extremely frustrating to be faced with a legal battle that will cost close to half a million dollars to defend a type of agriculture that other countries have committed millions of dollars to encourage. Europe has recognized the evils of conventional agriculture with its feeding of animal by-products to animals. Europe has come to recognize the in humane aspects of conventional agriculture. By the year 2012 they will no longer allow caged layer production for poultry or isolation stalls for pigs. Europe has far more stringent rules on how animals are confined and how many animals are allowed on a single property. The principles practiced by certified organic agriculture are the very reason that organic agriculture is such a threat to conventional agriculture. Olera Farms has steadfastly refused to join marketing boards and pay the quota charges and levies that support cage layer production and subsidies the supply of cheap eggs for the purpose of making shampoos. I do not want to pay this levy because I cannot justify the increase in price of organic eggs for the purpose of supporting a form of agriculture that is so contrary to the principles of organic agriculture. The cost of joining the marketing board system would increase the cost of Olera Farms eggs by 95 cents/dozen. Organic eggs are already twice the price of conventional eggs the added cost of a dollar without any benefit to the organic community is totally unjustified. At no time have the marketing boards offered to incorporate organic agriculture in a way that would also benefit organic agriculture. The marketing boards do have farms that will produce organically in one barn under the marketing board system. However these same farmers often have many other barns that still produce in a conventional way. Their other barns still have cage layers or they will still have hens fed grains that are produced with pesticides. They will still feed genetically engineered corn, soy, and canola. They will still feed animal by-products to their hens and spray the hens and barns with pesticides. Marketing boards will now say that they have organic farmers that support the marketing board system. The consumer must ask these farms how committed they are to the principles of organic and humane agriculture on all of the farms that they own. I have been asked, “Why should organic eggs have different rules than the rules for conventional eggs?” My answer is that organic eggs already operate by different rules than conventional eggs. Organic producers farm under a strict set of principles of organic production. These rules include; a. No cage layer production b. No feeding on animal protein c. No GMO feeds d. No use of antibiotics e. No use of pesticides f. Must have minimum of 1 acre of range space per 1000 hens g. Must feed organic grains only h. Must have natural sunlight in the barns i. Must have dramatically more space for the hens in the barns All these rules increase the cost of organic production and make our product distinctly different from that of the conventional egg. To tax the organic producer and force the organic producer to come under the control of the conventional cage layer egg producers for the sole benefit of the cage layer producer it totally wrong. The organic producer should be encouraged for providing the environmentally sound alternative to chemically produced food. The organic producer should be encouraged for providing the humane alternative to cage layer production. In cage layer production not only are the birds confined to cages where they can hardly move the birds are sprayed directly with insecticides to kill insects that would normally be controlled by the birds natural dusting practices. In Canada the organic producer is not encouraged or rewarded by government for providing the natural and humane alternative. In stead we are penalized and taxed by the very form of agriculture that we are the alternative to. Olera Farms and the other organic farmers and organic consumers have to raise nearly half a million dollars just to fight for the right to produce in an alternative way to conventional agriculture. These same governments offer a million dollars to the BC Dairy Farmers to assist them in cleaning up the pollution that they cause. These same governments spend millions of dollars to defend the marketing board system that insists on restricting the organic market. We have appealed to government many times to no avail. Our encouragement and reward comes from the consumer who recognizes that we do agriculture differently and that there is an increased cost of doing agriculture in this way. I have had no problem in asking the consumer to pay the added $1.50/dozen for the cost of farming organically. I don’t think that anyone in the organic community should accept the added $1.00/dozen that would be a direct subsidy to cage layer production. |