The poultry industry should consider introducing a levy on businesses to help pay for the devastating costs of avian influenza (AI).
Speaking at the 55th Egg & Poultry Industry Conference (EPIC), Tom Bradshaw told delegates that with more private insurers withdrawing from the market due to the risks, “the only solution” was “some sort of levy”.
“We need to have a conversation at a senior level about whether there is the appetite for that,” he said. “There is a similar scheme in Germany, but with the level of outbreak, it is very challenging.” In October alone there were 86 outbreaks of AI in the UK.
Bradshaw said in addition to a levy, the government compensation scheme needed to be altered to properly pay producers when culls were necessary.
Despite an announcement last week to change the timeframe of when payments were made, the sums still don’t add up, he said. “Compensation is simply not adequate,” he told the conference. With lack of proper insurance, producers are currently having to make difficult decisions about whether to restock.
The “holy grail” when it came to AI was a vaccine, said Bradshaw, but that may be up to two years away, and that was dependent on the strain remaining the same.
In the meantime, the NFU was calling for a national housing order. He also called for retailers to get on board. “Retailers going to have to make some difficult decisions,” he said. “It is not going to be a conversation about free-range or barn – it’s going to be a case of eggs or no eggs, or importing eggs that would be illegal to produce here.”
He said it was important to extend the 16-week period free-range producers can currently house birds without losing their free-range status. “We need to make the most of flexibility of not being in the EU,” he said. “Particularly in East Anglia we have producers saying we won’t have an outdoor unit for 18 months.”
Bradshaw went on to praise the adaptability and resilience of the whole poultry industry, dealing with multiple crises including inflation, Covid, and the lack of carbon dioxide.