By Matt Donald, pig & poultry farmer, north Yorkshire
We are into the last month before we stock the new breeder farm now, I hate to moan, but the weather since last September when we started has been pretty relentless. The prolonged wet winter has added a considerable amount of both time and money to the build cost. However, we are closing in on the final bits, by the time you are reading this hopefully the sun has shone for long enough that the external concrete can all now be laid.
Also, by the time you are reading this we could be in the hands of a new government, one which I hope may turn its attention to food security. I have little faith, due to the lack of the word agriculture in most parties’ manifestos, however farming is a resilient industry. What would I want for farming if I was leading the country? (not that I’d ever want to work with politicians over poultry).
The fairest thing for all sectors would be equal import standards, as a country we must import and export to balance the carcase, but surely the fairest thing for our poultry farms is equal competition?
Fair sustainable prices coming from the market would result in no reason for the government to hand out grants and subsidies to poultry farms, but with increasing supermarket pressures on prices, these grants are welcome tools to increase business efficiencies.
I would want some migration. As a nation we do not have enough workforce available and willing to work to fill many roles on both farms and in processing facilities. Every business is finding it harder to find a reliable team, on farm we are fortunate, but for the poultry sector to work we do rely on some flow of migration into our country.
I believe at the NFU conference last year Keir Starmer committed to the words: ‘50% of all food purchased by the public sector will be locally produced and sustainable’. So, if Labour gets in, then I look forward to seeing British chicken on public menus.