Chairman Ed Benjamins reports that more than 50 new
quota-holding members were added plus more than 30 began producing under the
Artisinal Chicken Program under which they can produce limited volumes without
owning quota.
But he said the biggest change was the board decision to
require all members to have modular loading capabilities by 2025.
That would eliminate labour-intensive chicken catching to
load birds for transport to processing plants.
“This major shift demonstrates that our industry is
committed to best-in-class animal welfare practices – which is something we can
all be proud of!,” Benjamins said in his year-in-review statement posted on the
marketing board’s website.
