Seeing Is Believing

It’s not easy to have the public visit a poultry farm. For one, hosting visitors involves dealing with numerous and serious biosecurity and security concerns. In addition, if the objective of hosting visitors is to educate the general public about what happens on the farm, hosting small or large groups – even on an ongoing basis – is ineffective.

Video, on the other hand, is a very effective method of demonstrating something to a huge number of people, especially if the footage is available on the internet. That’s why Saskatchewan Egg Producers (SEP) has created a new videos series that was released in mid-October on their site and on YouTube. SEP was assisted in creating the seven videos through funding from Egg Farmers of Canada, and a federal/provincial agricultural funding program called Growing Together 2.

The creation of these videos, with more to come, had many aims. “We know the public is further removed than ever from where their food comes from, even in the Prairies where we have deep agricultural roots,” says SEP Executive Director Audrey Price. “We undertook the video project to bring viewers to our farms to meet the producers and their families and to see how eggs are produced. We also felt that the broader public would like to know how much focus and attention is put on food safety and animal care as part of egg production.” Things like humane treatment of animals and respect for the environment are highlighted.

The videos also help consumers understand specific aspects of production, food safety and types of barn housing, and include a look at grading facilities as well. When asked how important it was to show all types of facilities, Price says “Considering our goal to educate and show transparency in egg production, it was very important to show all methods of production to help consumers understand the differences, and how that relates to the many choices they have when purchasing eggs. We show both enriched and traditional housing methods as well as free run (aviary).” The SEP also hopes the videos will be used by teachers to educate students about egg production. “We currently make printed resources available for teachers and the videos are another tool they can access to make learning more fun and engaging,” says Price.

Getting farmers to agree to take part in the project was not difficult. Price explains that they randomly chose a producer using each housing method to ask if they would participate, and all producers approached said yes. There are 66 producers that belong to SEP, and the vast majority (about 55) are found in Hutterite colonies. Flock size across the province ranges from 3,000 birds to tens of thousands.

RESPONSE SO FAR
Most producers in Canada are aware of the recently launched A&W restaurant marketing campaign, with the fast food chain now using only eggs from hens fed vegetarian diets. Chickens are actually natural omnivores, and eat plant matter, insects, snails and so on if foraging outdoors for themselves. While the SEP video series does include a look at a farm where vegetarian diets are used, SEP says planning and production of the videos was going on for the past year, long before A&W’s marketing initiative was launched in September. With regard to the importance of showing hens being fed vegetarian feed, Price notes “It is one of the production choices consumers are offered. We didn’t focus on one feed option more than others. Consumers also have other purchase choices such as Omega eggs where hens are fed a diet rich in flax, or Vitamin D-enriched eggs. The primary concern for farmers is that they feed their hens a balanced diet to be healthy in order to produce the best quality eggs.” Non-vegetarian diets for hens can contain things like oyster shells as a source of calcium, and vitamins derived from animal sources.

Although this story went to press about two weeks after the videos were released, Price was able to report at that point that “It has been a really positive response so far. Our YouTube channel is getting a lot of traffic and our farmers are very proud of the videos. We will continue to promote the videos and use them in the upcoming months at events like the Canadian Western Agribition.”

And more videos are coming. “We have 66 registered producers in the province and we realize we can’t complete that many videos, but we would like to add one or two each year for the next few years,” Price explains. “We’re proud of our farmers and would like the public to meet them and have a glimpse into their barns and their operations. Some are first-generation egg producers, others multi-generation; some have new farms, others older; some have large flocks, others smaller. Each farm and farmer has their own unique characteristics even though they are all egg producers. We’d like to share that.”

SEP launched the videos just as provincial producers began a two-day workshop to learn more about the national mandatory Animal Care Program, spearheaded by Egg Farmers of Canada. During the workshop, producers reviewed program enhancements related to the Employee Code of Conduct. “As well, the Visitor Code of Conduct was reviewed, outlining a visitor’s obligation relative to animal care elements and biosecurity measures when they are on-farm,” says Price. “These measures are in place to ensure our hens are treated correctly and we have the safest egg supply possible.”  

Egg Farmers of Canada says it is happy to be supporting Saskatchewan in the development of this video series and to partly fund the project. “We also work with other provinces to produce similar videos because we feel it is an important part of sharing our industry story with Canadians,” notes EFC Director of Communications and Public Affairs Alison Evans. “We have good and positive stories to tell, and the provinces are doing great work in showcasing them and the farmers who produce eggs that are among the best in the world.”

To view the educational videos, visit www.saskegg.ca or www.youtube.com/user/saskegg.ca