By Charles Bourns, broiler grower, Gloucestershire
This month started with most things getting back to normal but has ended the complete opposite with everything up in the air with the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth and the country having a new Prime Minister.
On the farm, we have had the first house of Redbro chicken so it should be interesting to see how they develop. I am adopting the recommended lighting programme that gives the chicks six half-hour dark periods for the first four days. They say it stimulates feeding and activity.
At the Poultrymeat Conference in September, Aviagen said the chicks should have their first dark period two hours after arrival. Apparently, it helps cockerel start up, as they said 75% of rejects are from cockerels. Also at the Conference, one of the speakers said that there are too many chicken on the ground at the moment. This, I would question. We have imported from Europe 319,395 tonnes of poultrymeat this year so far, up 20.9% on last year, so maybe we should look to replace this with home production.
I also attended the Copa Cogeca meeting this month where the European chicken market was discussed. Whilst they do not seem to have concerns over electricity prices, they do over gas costs and with most countries saying that if there is a hard winter, farms will cut back or close as the market price will not support it. They were reporting price increases up 30%, but costs up by 55%, so margins have been coming under pressure.
If European producers do cut back, the imports will not be available at the same level, so we need to become more self-sufficient, not less. We also need to bear in mind that with the introduction of higher welfare chicken with lower stocking density in some areas, production will drop.
And of course, avian influenza is showing no signs of going away with some large farms already being culled in Germany. It is interesting that in Europe Copa Cogeca now say it is endemic in waterfowl and they were saying that most cases are close to water. Because of this, in the Netherlands, they may move farms away from these areas, which could cost 25 billion euros.
So, it is for these reasons we must keep home production up and perhaps sell what we produce better. When I’ve had discussions about cost inflation recently, I have been told by several people not to worry about the costs we cannot control and concentrate on those we can. Well, yes. But efficiency costs money.
If you are not making a margin then you are forced to cut corners on things including vaccination, vet visits, everywhere. This affects the results and you end up on the slippery slope to nowhere, so whilst the statement is correct, we must have a margin.