Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • FREE Email Newsletters
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • FREE Magazine Subscriptions
    Twitter LinkedIn
    Podcast
    Poultry News
    • Production
      • Broiler Production
      • Ducks
      • Egg Production
      • Game
      • Hatching
      • Housing
      • Turkeys
    • Processing
    • Business & Politics
      • Business
      • Economics
      • EU & Politics
      • Marketing
      • People
      • Training & Education
    • Welfare
      • Environment
      • Food Safety
      • Vet & Medication
      • Welfare
    • Feed
    • Genetics
    • New Products
    • Magazines
      1. July 2022
      2. June 2022
      3. May 2022
      4. April 2022
      5. February 2022
      6. January 2022
      Featured

      Protected: Poultry Business – August 2022

      By Michael BarkerJuly 26, 2022
      Recent

      Protected: Poultry Business – August 2022

      July 26, 2022

      Protected: Health Supplement 2022

      July 25, 2022

      Protected: Poultry Business – July 2022

      June 28, 2022
    • Jobs
      • Browse Jobs
      • Post a Job
      • Manage Jobs
    • Events
      • National Egg and Poultry Awards
      • Poultry Fair
    Poultry News
    Housing

    A close shave: insight into poultry bedding firm Phillips Brothers

    Chloe RyanBy Chloe RyanMay 20, 20195 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

    Poultry farmers are shifting away from straw and into wood shavings for their bedding, a trend that’s led Phillips Brothers, the 125-year-old family business, to branch into multiple new products with a focus on biosecurity.

    On a beautiful spring day in the Suffolk countryside, Paul Phillips is walking through his factory warehouse that’s packed with wood shavings, straw and compressed wood pellets.

    Outside the sun is shining over the miles of arable fields, but inside the warehouse, machines are whirring, sorting stones and dust from straw and baling it into bedding for poultry, mixed in different volumes with wood shavings.

    Phillips is a fourth-generation director of the 125-year-old family business, Phillips Brothers, which supplies 190 poultry farms across the UK. He runs the business with his sister Jane Knapp and cousin Ian Phillips. Some 90% of its products goes to poultry farms, with the remaining 10% split between pig, equestrian and pet bedding.

    Despite its long history, Phillips has seen a boost in demand recently, driven by strong growth in the poultry market, leading to farmers investing in new poultry sheds and needing more bedding. And local demand in East Anglia is strong, he says.

    The new Cranswick poultry processing plant, being built just a few miles away in Eye, is potentially great news for Phillips.

    “By the end of 2019 their new factory will be processing 800,000 birds a week and then by the end of 2022 they will be doing 1.2 million a week,” he says. “We want to be part of that.”

    He is seeing a lot of optimism in the poultry sector in East Anglia generally. “Our customers are all looking to expand and redevelop their sheds and refurbish sheds to make them better and they’re looking to increase the chicken they’ve got on the ground. We’ve already benefitted from Moy Park’s growth and especially in the East Anglia area, we see a lot of potential.”

    “We aim to increase the number of farms we’re doing through our existing customer base and potential new customers like Cherry Valley and Crown [now owned by Cranswick] that we don’t currently do at the moment, and through private growers and to increase the product portfolio to supply different products.”

    In recent years, the firm has invested in new equipment. Just over three years ago, it came to a head when the baling plant, although not old, was experiencing breakdowns and slow productivity. After-care from the supplier was slow and with no forthcoming solutions, so Phillips made the decision to invest in a new high spec automated baling plant with a significant increase in capacity.

    “Following the installation, we added a new straw chopping plant and filtration system which addressed both improving quality and productivity levels of our straw based products,” says Phillips. “2018 saw the continuation of our investment plan with an upgraded wood shredding plant that shreds 100% clean recycled wood to meet a growing area in our product range with yet further investment in the plan for 2019. Each piece of plant playing a key part in enabling us to develop and introduce new products to our range.”

    With new kit on board, Phillips Brothers now wants to increase the range of products it offers. Currently it offers pure wood shavings, straw and it uses shredded timber too to bulk it up. Different customers opt for different blends.

    But it’s planning to introduce shredded timer as a product on its own because, says Phillips, the sector seems to be “moving more towards wood based products rather than straw”, partly due to better biosecurity credentials than straw, and partly because it has better absorbency and therefore is less of a risk against hock burn and pododermatitis.  

    Biosecurity is a major concern for the whole industry, and Phillips sees part of its role to help farmers keep standards tight. The biggest risk is still avian influenza, says Phillips, and due to this biosecurity is stringent. “Every delivery we have a risk assessment,” he says. “We have a biosecurity check list on every delivery that goes to farm. We’ve got full traceability of staff and product from supply to delivery, so we can be accountable for everything should AI come in, we can protect ourselves and the poultry industry.”

    As further protection against the risk of disease, the bedding is all sprayed with SalGard to reduce the threat of salmonella. And 90% of the dust is taken out of the straw to protect the customers against the risk of aspergillus. “All straw is all barn stored. It is moisture tested on arrival and it’s moisture tested throughout the process and we probe it to make sure it’s under 15% because aspergillus doesn’t form below 15%,” says Phillips.

    There are challenges for Phillips – one of the main ones is a general shortage of timber due to upheaval in the construction industry, partly Brexit-related, partly weather related. Last year’s wintry weather in spring meant the traditional season for garden sheds, decking and fencing was delayed, leading to a knock on shortage at timber mills where Phillips sources its materials.

    But there is plenty of optimism too. The growth of the poultry sector, particularly in East Anglia, is cheering. And the business now has the fifth generation of the family on board in the form of Rhys Knapp, son of director Jane Knapp. He joined the business in 2015 and is currently production manager. The family has already started its succession planning for the next generation, and has more poultry farms in its sights.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
    Previous ArticleComment: Us farmers must use social media to promote our industry
    Next Article Comment: this government is sending all the wrong signals
    Chloe Ryan

    Editor of Poultry Business, Chloe has spent the past decade writing about the food industry from farming, through manufacturing, retail and foodservice. When not working, dog walking and reading biographies are her favourite hobbies.

    Read Similar Stories

    Egg Production

    Morrisons becomes first supermarket to launch its own carbon neutral eggs

    August 4, 2022
    Broiler Production

    New record flock performance at Moy Park farm in Lincolnshire

    August 1, 2022
    Hatching

    Sales and profits up at PD Hook Breeders

    August 1, 2022
    Most Read

    NFU calls on government for immediate action on labour shortages

    August 5, 2022

    Morrisons becomes first supermarket to launch its own carbon neutral eggs

    August 4, 2022

    Liz Truss pledges to support farmers with deregulation if elected

    August 3, 2022
    © 2022 Lewis Business Media. All Rights Reserved.
    Lewis Business Media, Suite A, Arun House, Office Village, River Way, Uckfield, TN22 1SL

    Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions

    • AA Farmer
    • Farm Contractor
    • Pig World
    • OvertheCounter

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “ACCEPT ALL”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsREJECT ALLAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
    CookieDurationDescription
    AWSALBCORS7 daysThis cookie is managed by Amazon Web Services and is used for load balancing.
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Necessary" category .
    PHPSESSIDsessionThis cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
    Others
    Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
    CookieDurationDescription
    AWSALB7 daysAWSALB is a cookie generated by the Application load balancer in the Amazon Web Services. It works slightly different from AWSELB.
    explat_test_aa_weekly_lohp_2021_week_4517 days 8 hoursNo description
    ppwp_wp_session30 minutesNo description
    tk_ai14 daysGathers information for WordPress by themselves, first party analytics tool about how WP services are used. A collection of internal metrics for user activity, used to improve user experience.
    tk_qssessionGathers information for WordPress by themselves, first party analytics tool about how WP services are used. A collection of internal metrics for user activity, used to improve user experience.
    Advertisement
    Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
    CookieDurationDescription
    OAGEOsessionOpenX sets this cookie to avoid the repeated display of the same ad.
    OAID1 yearThis cookie is set when an AdsWizz website visitor have opted out the collection of information by AdsWizz service or opted to disable the targeted ads by AdsWizz.
    Analytics
    Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
    CookieDurationDescription
    _ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
    _gat_gtag_UA_31822138_71 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
    _gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
    tk_lr1 yearThe tk_lr is a referral cookie set by the JetPack plugin on sites using WooCommerce, which analyzes referrer behaviour for Jetpack.
    tk_or5 yearsThe tk_or is a referral cookie set by the JetPack plugin on sites using WooCommerce, which analyzes referrer behaviour for Jetpack.
    tk_r3d3 daysJetPack installs this cookie to collect internal metrics for user activity and in turn improve user experience.
    SAVE & ACCEPT
    Powered by CookieYes Logo