By Charles Bourns, broiler grower, Gloucestershire
I have just finished judging the finalists in the National Egg & Poultry Awards. It never ceases to amaze me how much the results are improving on FCR in particular, and the mortalities are falling which means again the industry is becoming more efficient from a physical point of view. But as most are now growing to 30kg stocking, even with thinning, efficiencies have been lost cost-wise which will make chicken more expensive.
It was also great to see that good old fashioned stockmanship still is needed and produces the best results which is something is very close to my heart.
Most retailers are selling British, but I was upset to hear that two retailers are now importing from Europe and have cancelled some of their British supply. They obviously do not care about their customers as the country of origin is noted for having a Salmonella problem. Let’s hope their customers move away from them.
On a local front our processor is going to move all its production to 30kg, which I believe is good news for the growers and the shed manufacturers. I know of four new sheds being built to keep the number of birds grown on those farms the same as it was at 38kg.
This highlights one of our main problems – planning – something we must have made easier if we are to keep the imports out.
Even more locally, I entered a competition at our local Agricultural Show as a smallholder. We only have a few hectares and I want to show the local farmers that it is possible to make a living off a few hectares. I had to attend an interview in front of a panel of farmers and was a little upset to find they dwelt on the negatives of our industry like the Wye river problem. I was able to say the industry has taken measures to improve its manure management and I did point out that this was more than the water companies had done and I felt we were just been used as the whipping boys in this instance.
Lastly, I will come back to an old chestnut of mine. I think I have learnt this month that more than ever we need to promote our products. The NEPA entrants have shown what a fantastic job we are doing but we just need to get that message out to the consume . Do they know why we have gone 30kg stocking? If not they should!