Overcoming logistical challenges to supply Newfoundland and Labrador egg farmers

At nearly 406,000 square kilometres, the island of Newfoundland is more than three times the size of the Maritime provinces. Because of its size, and the fact that it is only accessible by boat or plane, supplying its farms can be an extraordinary logistical challenge.
 

The Egg Farmers of Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), the commodity board that governs egg production in the province, reports that there are four family-run farms in the province that produce millions of eggs each year. Sollio Agriculture supports several of these farmers with a variety of services, including the supply of feed, genetics, additives and consulting services, to help them maximize their production.
 

Always there for N.L. poultry farmers

Sollio Agriculture began serving N.L. egg farmers in 2017. Éric Dion, Hen and Turkey Sales Team Manager at Sollio Agriculture, says that before the pandemic, he flew in to visit farmers three or four times a year to make sure that everything was running smoothly and to see if there were other ways he could support them. When the pandemic hit, he switched to frequent check-ins by phone.

He also asks farmers to email him regular production reports. As soon as he receives them, he analyzes them and makes recommendations to the farmers on how to optimize their operations.

Dion and his colleagues at Sollio Agriculture are available 24/7 to their N.L. customers, just as they are to all their other customers across the country.

“I ask them to give me as much information as they can, as often as they can,” says Dion. “Because they’re far away from me, it’s very important for me to have that information to make sure I know what’s going on in their operations.”
 

Supply challenges

One of the biggest challenges facing N.L. farmers is the price of feed, mainly due to the cost of transportation to get product to the island. Sollio Agriculture sources the layer feed from Atlantic Farm Services Incorporated in Truro, Nova Scotia.

Transportation is also a challenge because of the labour shortage and the time it takes to deliver to N.L. egg farmers.

“It's quite difficult for us to have a driver drive the feed because, while we have two egg farmers close to the ferry, the other two are close to St. John’s, which is almost a nine-hour drive, so the truck is on the road for about 18 hours.”

Planning is the key to success. Farmers know that they need to order in advance to be prepared for whatever might happen in their barns. Dion says that it’s not as much of a challenge in the summer, but in the winter, if a snowstorm causes the ferry to be cancelled, farmers need to have backup storage on the farm to store a lot of feed in advance.

The farmers really appreciate Terry Sellars, an employee of Sollio Agriculture, who Dion calls the Sidney Crosby of feed.

“Terry gives them perfect service, answering the phone 24/7. He is always there,” says Dion. “With the long trip, they often have to be ready to pick up the feed at 3 a.m., and Terry is still there.”

“The service that we provide from the mill is exactly what they need,” he adds. “There’s a lot of logistics involved with feed, but for years we’ve never had an issue; we’ve never had a farmer run out of feed. Everything has been perfect because we plan everything so far in advance.”
 

Getting genetics to N.L.

An even greater challenge than moving feed is moving genetics. Sollio Agriculture supplies N.L. farmers with day-old chicks hatched in St. Mary’s, Ontario. A farmer’s first order is driven to them. The chicks are well cared for and able to eat and drink during the trip.

However, recognizing the ferry as its greatest logistical issue, Sollio Agriculture makes all subsequent deliveries by plane, flying between 60,000 and 75,000 day-old chicks from Toronto’s Pearson Airport to St. John’s on each trip.

“That’s a lot of birds to fly, but we have very good service from the airport,” says Dion. “It’s the easiest way to ensure that the birds will get to the farms, and it’s very fast.”

Dion notes that since they began sourcing their day-old chicks through Sollio Agriculture, the farmers have seen a significant reduction in mortality.

“Even though our birds travel a lot, their quality is perfect,” says Dion, explaining that the birds that they supply eat less and lay more. “So while one of the challenges we have is the distance we have to travel with feed, if they need less feed to meet the birds’ needs and produce as well as they did in the past, it’s a good advantage for the farmers.”

As well as feed and genetics, Sollio Agriculture also provides farmers with additives, such as vitamins, to put in their hens’ water.
 

Strong communication

Because farmers can’t just pick up the phone and order what they need immediately, they need to be aware of what they might need in the next month. Dion says that this means he needs to know what those farmers have, the age of the birds that they have now and what they might need in the next month. Hence the regular email updates he requests.

“It's not hard to do, but we have to think ahead—will they need to change feed in two or three weeks’ time, or will they need to order day-old chicks in two or three months’ time?” says Dion. “I think about it every week. That’s the job that I have to do for my farmers. Because they are far away and on an island, and we have to deal with the ferry and with the airline, we have to communicate more often and be more efficient. “For me, it’s the perfect example of a long-distance relationship,” he concludes. “For me, it’s a perfect thing.”
 

Source: The original version of this article was published in Coopérateur magazine.