Things are cracking in the local egg business as five Chilliwack farmers' names were announced Wednesday as winners of quotas from the British Columbia Egg Marketing Board (BCEMB).
Brayden Joiner, Amy Hoock, Bonnie Bredenhof, Gabriel Charriere, and Marinus and Pauline Neels are among the 11 new entrants into the regulated egg industry.
Last week, the BCEMB held three draws, representing different regions and licences, to select the 11 people to receive the quota that allows them to purchase 3,000 laying hens and start egg farms.
"Bringing new entrants into the regulated egg industry is important to the ongoing health, viability and sustainability of the egg industry in British Columbia," the BCEMB said in a press release.
The new producers will be phased in over three years as both the individual and the market becomes ready.
Of the 86 applicants from any region in B.C., Joiner, Hoock, Bredenhof and Krista Harris from Abbotsford were winners.
There were also three winners out of 17 chosen in the outside Lower Mainland region in Salmon Arm, Nanoose Bay and Grindrod.
And in the small lot program, which includes individuals who already had hens but fewer than 400, there were 13 applicants. Winners of a full quota were Gabriel Charriere from Chilliwack, the Neels from Rosedale, and Willem Poortvliet from Agassiz and Hugo Garcia from Agassiz.
There are currently 29 egg farmers in Chilliwack and 135 across the province.