Quote:
Originally Posted by krynski
As someone who is closely linked to the supply management system, I am a full supporter. I am not a farmer nor part of the marketing board. The costs to operate and ensure a quality product are far higher in Canada, than in the US. You could factor in the need to provide heat in the winter (and with that, actually closed barns), the increased ingredient costs, etc as factors.
The other thing is that Canada produces a higher quality product with more stringent standards than the US. Also, unlike the US, most animal production farms are owned by families.
Let me give you this example: In Canada, after a flock of chicken is raised and sent for slaughter, the barn is completely cleaned out and disinfected before placing baby chicks. In the US, it is common practice to put a layer of hay over the manure and put in baby chicks on top of the previous flocks' manure. Disgusting? I would say so.
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Couple of things here... Is heat in the winter and closed barns really so outrageous? If my grandfather wasn't dead, I'd ask him. Somehow he managed to raise livestock, cows included. He literally put doors on the barn. Not sure if he ran a space heater, or fired up the John Deere, but somehow, that a-hole managed to farm the land here in Alberta, and keep the cows warm. Do the people in Texas A/C their barns in the summer? Is that a thing?
As far as raising chicks go, and I really don't want to sound flippant here, how necessary is clean hay? Do they need hay every day? Once a week? Just when they start to stink? Honestly, how often does hay need to be changed? Obviously, 'never' is the wrong answer. But you sound like you know the industry, so if you would elaborate on hay and the frequency that it needs to be changed, I might start to be a little bit convinced that it's reasonable for the farming industry to be all jacked up in Canada, and that a door stopper of dutch cheese should cost ~10-15 dollars. I listen to the news pretty regularly, and I'm not hearing alarming death tolls out of the States over Gouda nor milk. I like having higher standards, but paying double for something that isn't even in question just a couple hundred km away is stupid.