Chicken board gets a makeover

Chicken growers will have a greater say in the BC Chicken Marketing Board’s decisions following a provincial order in council issued June 19.

Changes that take effect September 1 will give growers the opportunity to elect three members of the five-person board, up from two elected grower positions today.

Those three grower members will also, in discussion with the chair appoint the fifth member of the board.

The province will continue to appoint the chair, but the expanded participation by growers will give growers a greater say in the board’s decision-making.

“The board looks forward to added grower leadership in its support of BC’s chicken growing community,” BC Chicken said in an industry memo announcing the new governance structure.

“When you look at marketing boards across Canada more broadly, they are predominantly or entirely grower-elected,” explains BC Chicken general manager Woody Siemens. “This change simply brings the chicken board more in line with how other boards in BC and across the country are structured.”

While other supply-managed groups would like to see grower interests better addressed at the board level, Siemens notes that most other commodity boards in BC are made up entirely of growers to ensure this happens.

Dairy producers are among those who have expressed concern over how they’re regulated, but the past year has seen significant investment in communication by the BC Milk Marketing Board to ensure board decisions are regularly explained to licensed producers.

Given that the supervisory function of marketing boards and commissions is separated from grower associations in BC, grower involvement and regular communication are critical to productive collaboration between the regulator and producers.

Similar changes to governance are not planned at this time for any of BC’s other marketing boards and commissions.

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