Would Integrated Poultry Ltd. fly in Ontario?
Simcoe, Ont., broiler producer Jim Judge, who has known Harry Andrews for years, is finding it tough getting a producer-owned processor along the lines of IPL off the ground in Ontario. Judge, who sat around the Canadian Chicken Marketing Agency boardroom table with Andrews in the 1980s, says in Ontario he and a group of growers have met with resistance every step of the way in getting more birds into their Harriston Farm Fresh Poultry Co-operative plant. Both Judge and Andrews are chicken producers looking for more control for growers in the chicken industry by venturing into the processing side. Farm Fresh, which is owned by 30 producers, started out with 450,000 kgs of supply after purchasing the Ungerman/Thompson processing plant in Harriston last year. Since then, Farm Fresh supply has increased to 650,000, but every kg was hard won. Chicken Farmers of Ontario, the Association of Ontario Chicken Processors (AOCP) and the Farm Products Appeal Tribunal have all put up barriers. Even
