DCHP-2

quota DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Agriculture, in phrases such as to have quota, to be granted quota

  the authorization to produce a certain quantity of agricultural goods.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — Quota generally means an amount contributed to a larger quantity, or a minimum or maximum limit (see OED-3, s.v. "quota" (1.a & b)). In Canada, however, the term also refers to the authorization, not the amount, granted by a marketing board to a farmer to produce an agricultural product (see, e.g. the 1987 quotation). The meaning in Canada is evidenced in lexicalized phrases such as "was granted quota" or "were given quota", whereas the more widely used meanings for quota are often found in phrases like "the imposed quota" or "the instituted quota".
  The collocations are quite rare in provincial domains, which is why "agricultural quota" was used as a search term, taking the risk of including not just the 'authorization' but also the 'quantity' readings. Even so, Chart 1 shows that the term is most common in Canada.
  See COD-2, s.v. "quota"(2.b), which is marked "Cdn".

  See also: annual allowable cut  marketing board  

  • 1972  "I said to the man at Cow & Gate 'if we have quota you'll pay us and if we haven't got quota, the Milk Marketing Board will take it away and give it to you anyway'. He said yes, that's right," Hagget remarked. 
  • 1987  The three-year program open to anyone owning tobacco quota - in effect a licence to grow tobacco - and producing a crop. 
  • 1990  Farmers were given quotas for free when the marketing board system was set up in the mid-1970s. That generation of farmers regard the quotas as their retirement nest-egg, and are distressed that quota values are declining so quickly. 
  • 1993  He argued that it's a market that's being filled by imports from the U.S., so it won't hurt any Canadian farmers if he's granted quota to produce capons. 
  • 2013  Efforts to sell product without quota have been met with the crushing force of the law. The farm of Shawn Carmichael was raided by the Ontario Provincial Police for selling eggs beyond quota. They seized his property, which led to the deaths of hundreds of his chickens due to maltreatment. 
  • 2016  Parker also found significant price differences within counties, depending on the main types of enterprises. In Huron, Perth and Oxford counties, prices remained strong throughout the year where there was a dense population of livestock operations with quota.