CFO encourages new farmers in Ont.

Sep 01, 2020

The organization has a range of programs geared to help people get involved in chicken farming in the province

By Jackie Clark
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The application window is now open for folks interested in the New Entrant Chicken Farmer Program run by the Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO).

Successful applicants receive support from CFO in starting their chicken farm.

The program is open to “anybody who’s interested in (starting) a poultry farm,” Ed Benjamins, chair of CFO, told Farms.com.

Applicants must reside in Ontario and be Canadian citizens. The CFO gives priority to individuals without a previous connection to a supply-managed sector.

Farmers, representatives from financial institutions, and other stakeholders independent of CFO review the applications. Reviews consider the applicants’ eligibility, business plan, demonstrated need, knowledge, commitment, and other factors, Benjamins explained. Those third-party reviewers then submit recommendations to the CFO board.

In addition to helping successful applicants acquire quota, “our field staff go over the regulatory requirements and timeframes for submitting paperwork (with the new entrants) … to bring them up to speed,” Benjamins added. “We started this program in about 2012 and, since then, the program has welcomed 28 new family-run farms.”

The CFO leadership wants to encourage other people to “join what we think is a very successful business,” he said. The New Entrant Chicken Farmer Program is just one way the team at CFO supports folks in getting involved in the sector.

“We have some very unique, much smaller community and artisanal programs,” he added. “We have a suite of programs for new processing, new innovation. We’re definitely open for business. … We made that commitment as a board and it’s really important to us that we continue to do that.”

Interested parties can apply for the New Entrant Chicken Farmer Program until Oct. 30. Find more information and the application form here.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.