Thank you very much.
My name is Tim Lambert. I'm the chief executive officer of Egg Farmers of Canada. I appreciate the opportunity to address the group. I’m glad to see this on the agenda of the committee. This is a really important issue for our industry, one which I would suggest is not well understood by the public. Therefore, I think there's a lot of value in the dialogue you're having on this.
By way of background, we represent the 1,000 regulated egg farmers across the country. A point I want to make to the committee is that we represent conventional cage producers, organic producers, free-run, free-range, brown egg producers, and omega-3 producers—the whole gamut. It really puts us at somewhat of a disadvantage in the public dialogue with animal rights groups because simply put, we're not going to go out publicly and point out any disadvantages and strengths of the different systems. We don't want to be seen criticizing different production systems. The activists tend to take a one-sided view that all cages are bad for layer production. That's a really inaccurate portrayal of the reality of the situation, so I'd like to speak to that a bit today.
I'd also note that unlike most trade associations, Egg Farmers of Canada has some regulatory and operational responsibilities. For example, we buy and sell all the eggs that get used by processing companies and we negotiate directly with them on behalf of producers. We're very much involved in the commerce within the industry. As part of that regulatory responsibility, we operate an on-farm food safety program called Start Clean Stay Clean, which is HACCP, hazard analysis and critical control point, based and has been reviewed technically by CFIA. I don't want to spend any real time on that today, the subject being animal welfare, but I did want to note that for the committee's attention.
Of particular interest today is that we operate an on-farm animal welfare program as well. It is based on codes of practice that were developed in conjunction with scientists, producers, and the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies. We have a scientific advisory panel that oversees that process for us. Through NFACC we're in the process of reviewing those codes as we speak.
Why then is hen welfare an issue? It's because we have science-based systems in place. A key point that gets lost in some of the debate is that birds that aren't healthy aren't happy and they aren't productive. Farmers have very much a vested interest in the welfare of their birds to ensure that they're productive. I'd like to tell you that the issue is black and white, but that's not true at all.
I've been meeting with Canadian retailers across the country. Last week I was meeting with Sobeys in Toronto. I've been out west to meet with the Overwaitea and Save-On-Foods group. I've also met with Loblaws and Tim Hortons. What I said to them is that ultimately we're going to supply the eggs that Canadians want to purchase regardless of the production system. We don't have a vested interest in which system it is, and there are pros and cons to each.
With respect to cage production, when birds are in cages, they're separated from their manure. When they're separated from their manure, there is a higher level of food safety with the birds. However, when birds are taken out of cages, they're in contact with their manure, and there will be challenges with disease, internal parasites, and mites. Because they're on the floor, there can be challenges with bone breakage. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to most people, but I'll say it in front of this committee, hens are cannibalistic. If they're in too large a group, managing their tendency to become territorial and attack each other is a challenge. That's a significant animal welfare challenge.
As an anecdote, I was talking to an organic producer, and he had lost about 15% to 20% of his flock. Other producers on our board were asking if that was because of disease in his flock. He said that no, it was cannibalism. That's something not widely understood. I think the committee would appreciate why it's not something we go speak a great deal about publicly.
What cages don't do—and if you look at the left side of the page—is that they don't allow the birds the opportunity to perch, which is a natural behaviour, to forage, to dust bathe, and to use a nesting box.
In the middle column you'll see reference to “enriched”. By enriched cages, we mean colony systems. They hold about 60 birds. In them are perches. In them is an area where they can scratch. In that system are perch areas.
We think that over time our industry will migrate to that type of system. That is where Europe has gone, at 116 square inches per hen. It has a ban on conventional cages which started in 2012, but it does allow for enriched housing systems.
The U.S. has an agreement with the Humane Society of the United States. They're working on getting that passed into law. It too would allow for the use of enriched cages.
What we're doing here in Canada is extensive. We're doing a lot of research. You'll hear later, I think, from Dr. Tina Widowski. We sponsor a chair in animal welfare at the University of Guelph and it's held by Dr. Widowski. We are undergoing our review of codes of practice, which I referred to. We're continuing to do our research into that system as a possible alternative down the road.
We're also involved very actively internationally. We're part of a group called the International Egg Commission. I serve as the chair of the animal welfare working group. We're also involved with the World Organisation for Animal Health, or OIE. A Canadian veterinarian, Dr. Vincent Guyonnet, is on the working group establishing layer welfare standards for the OIE.
We're involved domestically, involved with the U.S., and involved with Europe and other countries as well.
As this process unfolds, you can be assured that all regulated production is currently conducted using the very best accepted scientific information. We are continually building and applying the new information we get. We will continue to take every step possible to continue to build a world-class industry. We take great pride in that culture of continuous improvement.
Thank you for your kind attention.