By Charles Bourns, broiler grower, Gloucestershire
Through my chairmanship of NFSCo and my role as a poultry farmer, I have become involved in discussions between the rendering industry and the Environment Agency because of the odour problems we have experienced so often during this hot summer.
The problem can be divided into two areas. First, there are the normal mortalities we deal with as an industry, which we should manage better by using fridges or making greater use of them on breeder sites. Secondly, there are the sudden mortalities caused by heat stress. These are the ones causing problems, especially this year, as we have had a fearful storm caused by bluetongue, along with losses in the pig industry.
I did point out that renderers do not charge less for collecting good-quality material, but one said that if we cannot send them better-quality product, they might not take it. There are now logistical problems, such as all rendering plants being north of Birmingham, a lack of trailers and a shortage of qualified lorry drivers.
We also pointed out that a joint plan is needed, as hot summers are not unique to the UK. In France, they sent 50,000 tonnes of product to landfill. Nor is this problem unique to livestock: an extra 35,000 people died in Europe and, before you ask, they did not go into landfill!
Let’s hope the group comes up with a workable solution. Perhaps we will leave a change in the fee structure on the farm, as voluntary action would be better than an imposed one.
I do have another problem. Why, when we are not self-sufficient in a product like poultry or milk, do our prices have to follow world prices? The other day, milk prices were down, blamed on American overproduction. If this policy is allowed to continue, we will end up becoming even less self-sufficient. Everyone talks about sustainability and self-sufficiency, but these are words; we need action. One can only wonder what would happen in France if its milk manufacturers adopted this policy. Meanwhile, our consumers are very diligent about looking at all the Chinese cars on the road.
It worries me to see that chicken numbers are down, but are sales down too, or are we losing out to foreign imports? It was, however, good to see turkey placements up by 73% and to see the turkey industry working on an advertising campaign for Christmas. I will say no more on that subject, as you will all know my opinion.
Last weekend, I met up with Birthe Steenberg of AVEC, who had come over from Brussels to talk to 12 young ladies from the poultry industry. I think this is great news, but I hope the industry embraces them and promotes their progress in our industry.
At home, we have just used up all our ventilation inlets to keep wild birds out and spent money improving our yard, which was looking the worse for wear.