A Manitoba company providing day-old layer chicks to poultry producers in the three Prairie provinces is under new joint ownership.
International Layer Distribution (ILD), a subsidiary of German egg layer breeding firm EW Group, and Trouw Nutrition Canada, a livestock feed arm of Nutreco, on Monday announced their joint venture has acquired Clark’s Poultry for an undisclosed sum.
Clark’s, founded by Doug Clark in 1947 and sold to the Brandon-based Lawson family in 1970, sells layer chicks in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta under the Lohmann Breeders brand.
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“After 44 years in the industry, the time has come for me to move on and let the current management and sales team, along with the new ownership group, take Clark’s Poultry to the next level of excellence in the hatchery industry,” Clark’s president Brad Lawson said in a release.
“We feel the new ownership of the hatchery will allow us not only to invest in the Canadian community and the team we have built, but also to continue improving on our existing chick quality and customer support,” Greg Moorehead, who becomes Clark’s general manager, said in the same release.
Lohmann Breeders, another German-based international firm in the layer parent breeding business, has been part of ILD’s parent firm, EW Group, since 1987, when Lohmann was bought by what was then known as Paul Wesjohann and Co.
Livestock feed firm Trouw Nutrition Canada was formed in 2017 in the merger of the Canadian feed business of Nutreco with those of Shur-Gain, Landmark Feeds and Hi-Pro Feeds.
Maarten Bijl, managing director for Trouw Nutrition North America, and Albert Cordts, ILD’s managing director, jointly said Tuesday that “continuing the high quality, and the excellent service, customers know from Clark’s is very important to us. This acquisition also shows long-term and continued commitment to the Prairie provinces and their producers.” –– Glacier FarmMedia Network
