Nova Scotia Egg Farmer Defies Quota System

CANADA - A Kings County egg farmer is taking on the province's quota system, vowing to keep up the fight even as Nova Scotia’s egg board denies his request to keep hundreds of chickens.
calendar icon 23 October 2013
clock icon 3 minute read

CBCnews reports that Aaron Hiltz has more than 700 birds on his farm in Lake George and under provincial egg marketing regulations, he's only allowed 100 without a quota.

His hens, he said, are free to roam in fields and don’t live in cages, offering customers something different when they buy eggs.

But purchasing an egg quota is near impossible, Mr Hiltz said, even if one can afford it.

"You either marry into it or are born into it, and that's the only hopes of being able to do this," he said.

So, he’s forged ahead without a quota. That move brought him to the attention of the Nova Scotia Egg Producers.

Mr Hiltz asked for an exemption to the regulations, but said the board refused and set a deadline to get rid of his chickens.

That deadline passed this weekend.

A representative of the egg board declined an interview, but said they haven’t raised the prospect seizing Mr Hiltz’s hens. They will visit the farm next week.

Still, Mr Hiltz said the egg board has the power to take his chickens and could slap him with a large fine.

“It'd be a shame to lose what we have if things go through,” he said. “I also believe that it's at the point where it's always darkest before the dawn.

“I think that we can definitely try to push the envelope to be able to fight for small family farms.”

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