An egg farmer in southern Alberta was jailed for missing a court appearance in his dispute over federal agriculture quotas.

Farmer Henk Van Essen was jailed and released after agreeing to allow Egg Farmers of Alberta, the provincial egg marketing board, to inspect his farm near Turin and Iron Springs. His conditions also compelled him to disclose four years of sales and customer details.

Van Essen was arrested by five RCMP cruisers last week, who came to his farm while chicks were hatching. He described his ongoing battle related to supply management in an interview with The Producer.

A controversial supply-chain bill protecting Canadian dairy, eggs, and poultry from free trade agreements fell through in the Senate last November over unpopular rewrites.

Just left the infamous Lethbridge court house where the family of Egg farmer Van Essen's family heard he would be released.
The conditions of his release include but aren't limited to a "head count" initiated by the Egg Board.
Sounds like the legitimate Mafia is set to either… https://t.co/XHonnwHTqz

— Marco Van Huigenbos (@vanhuigenbos_m) April 25, 2025

Alberta farmers face jail for potentially exceeding the 300-laying-hen limit allowed without a supply management production quota.

Van Essen, who sells CFIA-inspected eggs under the Sundial Poultry label to stores and individuals, recently had his premises license renewed. 

The farmer hatches 3,000 chicks at once, raising unsold chicks for production. “Yes, I’m over 300 chickens,” he admitted. “You can’t make a living under 300 chickens.” 

A hen's prime egg-laying period is between 20 and 78 weeks, producing 250 to 330 eggs annually. 

“Whatever they count over 300, they are going to ‘de-populize,’” Van Essen said, noting there is “a big shortage of eggs,” citing avian flu outbreaks in British Columbia and the United States.

The Government of Alberta is at odds with the Bloc Québécois over supply-chain legislation that would bar dairy, poultry, and eggs from future free trade deals.https://t.co/Z0yevbXriO

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) October 22, 2024

The passage of Bill C-282, An Act To Amend The Department Of Foreign Affairs Act, would have enshrined dairy, poultry and egg quotas as non-negotiable in future trade talks.  

It received support from 262 MPs in June 2023. The bill was then referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade in April 2024. 

However, Conservative amendments made the bill unacceptable to Québec separatists who supported protectionist measures.

Alberta, whose agricultural producers oppose supply management, urged the federal government to maintain open trade markets and supply chains. 

Liberal leader Mark Carney reaffirms his party's support for the 'dairy cartel' supply management in Canada despite U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism. pic.twitter.com/5Rbw1CCzWw

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) March 28, 2025

Van Essen claims to have unsuccessfully tried twice to obtain a quota through the EFA's new entrant program (allocating up to 1,500 birds), while the EFA states it was only once.

“All the existing producers just got another 10 per cent (quota) given to them, but they won’t let a little guy running a couple thousand chickens with the best eggs in town,” he said.

Purchasing available quota outright is too expensive, with recent sales at $754.75 per layer. Producers also pay a $0.005 levy per dozen eggs to the Alberta Egg Commission, plus service charges.

“I’m just a little farmer trying to make a living,” Van Essen said, acknowledging hardship with making mortgage payments.

An EFA spokesperson told Producer they had been in regular contact with Van Essen for years on his unpermitted raising of thousands of laying hens and direct egg sales competing with regulated farmers.

PM Trudeau says after his meeting with the head of the EU, it's now "clearer than ever that we must go further, faster on reliable and sustainable energy" because "authoritarian states...use their supply chains as competitive advantages."https://t.co/PHR7jF0lJM pic.twitter.com/Yw1wAluBfm

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) March 13, 2023

Alberta Trade Minister Matt Jones stated in an email to CBC News that Bill C-282 would negatively impact Canada's ability to negotiate beneficial trade agreements for the broader agriculture industry and damage its reputation as a reliable trading partner.

Trade negotiators and farming groups warned that protectionism serves to harm other sectors of the Canadian economy, with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) set for its first review in 2026.

Alberta's exports to the U.S. totalled $162.2 billion in 2023, accounting for 89.6% of total provincial exports. The province also exported $17.9 billion in agriculture and agri-food products that year. 

Agricultural exports have nearly doubled since the Liberals first formed government in 2015.

Rebel News plans to release a more in-depth report with Van Essen in the coming days.  

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