Moove over cows, these dairy farmers are gone cracked
You probably don't even think about where that egg on your plate came from — but for the first time in years, it might have come from a layer farm on Newfoundland's west coast.
Two dairy farmers in Deer Lake got into the egg business last year, as new entrants in the industry.
Pauline Duivenvoorden and Phil MacLean were eager to take advantage of the opportunity, when an increased egg quota became available in this province in 2015.
"In terms of egg consumption in Canada," said Duivenvoorden, "it's been growing year over year. And in fact, over the last 11 years, there's been over 30 per cent increase in egg consumption."
The two farmers are still in the dairy business, but they say eggs are where it's at.
Shelling out money on the farm
Duivenvoorden and MacLean built a new barn in Deer Lake in 2016 under the name Barn Fine Eggs, and they bought equipment for egg production and processing.
Some of the $800,000 cost was covered through agricultural funding programs, but the two farmers are still deeply invested in this new venture, both financially and philosophically.
Duivenvoorden said food security is close to her heart, as is eating food that's sourced as locally as possible.
And, not surprisingly, she's a big believer in including eggs as part of a healthy diet.
"Eggs are an amazing package of food in that it's almost the most unprocessed, high-quality food stuff that we can get," Duivenvoorden told CBC Radio's Corner Brook Morning Show.
Laying the groundwork for eggs
Making the switch from cows to eggs took some adjustment and a lot of pre-planning for two longtime dairy farmers.
"We did a fair bit of research in trying to determine what the best housing environment would be for the birds, and what would also satisfy our own preferences for humane care," said Duivenvoorden.
In the end, Barn Fine Eggs selected what Duivenvoorden calls an enriched housing system, with twice as much space per bird as the current Canadian standard.
The hens have more room to move around and stretch their legs and wings, and the cages include perches, a scratch pad, and a nest area.
"I kind of liken it to apartment living," said Duivenvoorden.
When everything was ready to go and the first pullets arrived in early January 2017, it didn't take long for egg production to begin.
"While we're learning relatively quickly, the birds are smarter and came knowing what they had to do," joked Duivenvoorden.
Egg-cellent output
Every day at Barn Fine Eggs, about 625 dozen eggs, or about 7,500, are laid, mostly between 8:00 and 11:00 in the morning.
The hens do most of their laying in a nest area that's partitioned off with orange plastic curtains, and is quieter and darker than the rest of the cage.
From there, the eggs roll gently down onto a cloth conveyor belt which takes them to an egg elevator that lifts them up and off to another conveyor belt bound for a separate room where they're packed into crates and pallets and placed in coolers.
Making the grade
All eggs in Newfoundland right are graded at Newfoundland Egg Inc. on Roaches Line, where they're also washed and packaged for distribution to stores across the province.
That grading station has the capacity to grade eggs for the entire province, so Duivenvoorden doubts there'll be a need for a grading station in western Newfoundland anytime soon.
Right now, egg production at Barn Fine Eggs only accounts for about two per cent of the eggs consumed in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The company has left room for expansion if more quota becomes available, or if there's an increase in egg production that would justify another grading station.
She said eggs are transported across the province in an economical way, using the same trucks that deliver eggs to stores to pick up her farm's eggs for the return trip.
Grading of eggs is highly regulated through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, so Duivenvoorden says there would be a huge cost to establish another grading station.
Eggs on the rise
Besides Barn Fine Eggs, a second new entrant into the province's egg industry is Long Range Poultry Farm in Cormack, which went into production last fall.
It's the first time in nearly a decade that eggs have been produced in western Newfoundland, after Hammond Farms got out of the business in 2008.
Duivenvoorden is delighted to see that egg farmers can cash in on the increased demand for their product, with the rise of all-day breakfast in many restaurants and coffee shops.
Even decades-old concerns about eggs and a link to high cholesterol seem to have diminished as new evidence has come to light.
"I think eggs have undergone that change, through research, to show that the nutritional value is high, the protein levels are especially quality proteins," said Duivenvoorden.
"Eggs have had a resurgence in terms of a healthy diet."
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