The Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre in Glenlea launched its newest facility on April 26. The Manitoba Egg Farmers (MEF) Learning and Research Centre joins the ranks of the pork, beef, and dairy facilities already onsite.
This hands-on facility provides visitors with a unique glimpse into how animal products are raised and processed, from farm to fork. It also doubles as a research station for students from the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences.
The new egg production facility is already home to 4,400 laying hens within its 22,000 square feet of space. Through large one-way windows, visitors have a unique vantage into two types of bio-secure barns, a free-run aviary and another that is outfitted with an enriched housing system.
Here, onlookers can witness the natural behaviours of laying hens as they peck, scratch, perch, and deposit eggs into nesting boxes. Conveyor systems carry the fresh eggs to a packing room where they are readied for shipping to an offsite egg grading company before distribution into the market.
Tours of the new MEF facility will begin on May 1.
Catherine Kroeker-Klassen is board chairperson for the MEF and served as emcee for the Wednesday morning launch and tour.
“Today we hand over the keys of this learning and research centre to the University of Manitoba, and I know we are leaving the facility in good hands,” said Kroeker-Klassen.
She is also a fourth-generation egg and pullet farmer, farming alongside her brother on an acreage near Linden, Manitoba.
“We care deeply about providing nutritious food for our family, for you and for Canada,” she told those gathered. “This centre opens the barn doors to show what we do daily on our own farm.”
The work of this facility, she added, is to build public trust through transparency into how the agricultural food system is run.
“Biosecurity is imperative for food safety and to a hen’s health, which means that the public has, until now, really not had access to working egg farms,” she said. “This building has been designed with visitors in mind.”
MLA Ralph Eichler was on hand for the auspicious occasion. Eichler is the former Minister of Agriculture and a cattle producer prior to his career in politics.
Eichler lauded the new facility as a first of its kind in Canada and a world-class learning and research centre. Currently, Manitoba is responsible for 10 percent of the country’s annual egg production and the MEF is comprised of 170 egg and pullet producing families in the province.
“This new centre is an important home base for industry, government and academia,” he said.
While it took years of planning, the project finally grew legs when $1.5 million in federal and provincial funding was announced for the facility in 2021. The MEF stepped up at that point to see the $4 million project through to completion.
In the end, they have a facility which is equipped with the latest in cloud-based technologies. It is fully staffed and provides a variety of labs for research students to work from.
Ritchot mayor Chris Ewen was also invited to share his thoughts. An admitted egg lover, Ewen says he’s up to 12 eggs per day these days, ramping up his protein intake while he trains as a boxer.
“I’ve been doing these exciting expansions and grand openings since, I think, 2016,” Ewen said. “The things that you guys are doing here is absolutely incredible. Farmers, agricultural experts, students, researchers… without you guys we really wouldn’t be able to expand in Ritchot and throughout Manitoba and Canada.”
Jason Schreyer, chairperson of the Winnipeg Food Council, sits on an advisory committee for city council which looks at solutions to issues with modern-day food systems and food security.
He, too, shared the significance he sees with this kind of food research facility in the province.
“We need good quality food and we can lose the understanding and knowledge of what it takes [to get it],” Schreyer said. “The pressure on us to sustain agricultural products for a growing world increases all the time.”
Finally University of Manitoba vice president Dr. Mario Pinto took to the podium.
“This partnership-based [facility] will solidify Manitoba’s position as a national leader in ag research, attracting and supporting highly qualified graduate students and that is near and dear to my heart,” Pinto said. “Investing in the next generation.”
Leaders from the MEF, the University of Manitoba, and dignitaries then gathered for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
A second ribbon-cutting was also held as a dedication of the facility’ s main meeting room to Dr. Bill Gunther, recognized for his expertise and significant influence in the modernization of the Manitoba egg industry.
