March 16, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Vancouver, BC –
If you were in the Coal Harbour area of Vancouver on Friday morning, you may have seen a good looking group of lads and ladies in bright yellow scarves hanging around a Triple O’s food truck. You probably thought this was another movie shoot taking advantage of the low Canadian dollar. Guess again. It was actually real BC chicken, egg and turkey farmers in town for the first ever BC poultry conference.
Partner organizations, BC Egg Marketing Board, BC Chicken Growers Association, BC Hatching Egg Producers Association and BC Turkey Association held the first BC Poultry Conference at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver March 9-11, 2016, reporting a total of 541 registrants, including over 200 growers and producers, 70 sponsors and exhibitors and 30 out of province industry guests.
“Our long term objective for this conference is to build a cohesive, profitable growing poultry industry that meets the needs of consumers while being socially and environmentally responsible,” said Dale Krahn, Chair of the BC Poultry Conference.
Industry experts covered a range of topics relevant to current industry issues such as biosecurity, animal welfare, avian influenza, water quality, market trends and raising poultry without antibiotics. Lunchtime keynote speakers Dr. Art Hister and Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk inspired delegates to think about healthy living and how scientific research in space affects their lives.
“When we have so many stakeholders in one place we experience opportunities to network with each other and join forces to make our industry better,” said Krahn. “With such a successful first year we are in a position to plan for an even bigger, better conference in 2017.”
Conference sponsors came from all segments of the poultry supply chain – farm equipment suppliers, feed companies, bankers, insurance and other service providers, processors, food retailers, restaurants and more. These sponsors played a huge role in helping to make this conference a success, according to organizers, because the sponsorship money helps to minimize costs for farmers.
BC Minister of Agriculture Norm Letnick addressed the sold-out gala, noting the importance of poultry in BC’s agriculture and agri-foods sectors.
Unique to this event was a public outreach morning, where poultry farmers handed out over 300 Triple O’s famous “Classic Sunny Starts” outside the conference centre. Farmers showed tremendous enthusiasm for engaging with the public and telling their story. Farmers also distributed over 100 copies of the “Real Dirt on Farming”, a magazine that dispels common myths about agriculture in Canada.
Miss out on your free breakfast sandwich? Farmers plan to do this again next year March 3, 2017.
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Media Enquiries:
Cheryl Davie 604-859-2868 cheryldavie@bcchicken.ca
– 30 –
Media Enquiries:
Cheryl Davie
604-859-2868
cheryldavie@bcchicken.ca