Effective in Allocation Period A-201, the Board will permanently remove the Catching cost line from both the BC COP formula and the BC Live Price.
Read the full memo: Removal of Catching from the Live Price
Technically, this will be effective in the quota period after the full update of the BC COP formula (and using 2024 data). That is, the Board is targeting completion of the COP update for A-200, with removal of catching beginning in A-201 (beginning March 8, 2026). However, the Board reserves the right to adjust this timeline if the COP update is not ready in time.
Removing Catching costs from the Live Price aligns BC with the rest of Canada, where processors directly contract and pay for catching and live-haul services. This change ensures a cost-neutral transition, improves consistency in live price comparisons, and clarifies that processors, not growers, are responsible for paying catching crews, which reflects current practice.
However, growers still need to be involved in the catching process, as they share responsibility for the health and welfare of animals. For more on this, see the General Orders, Section 10.
BC is currently the only province that still includes Catching costs in the Live Price. The BC Chicken Marketing Board has participated for several years in consultations with Western provincial boards and processors (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) on removing catching costs from the live price of chicken. Various circumstances had to be navigated before the Board could make a final decision, though it supported the initiative in principle. For more on the background, please read the full memo.
