May 3 2010

 

UK poultry sector needs to brace for challenges

UK producers need to be prepared to face a range of issues in the coming years if they are to take advantage of growing value of poultry products, according to poultry industry experts.

 

The Rural Business Research report published recently revealed steady growth in the value of poultry produce over 2008-09 with total value of British production up 24% to EUR2.01billion.

 

Eggs rose slightly in value while meat prices stalled after a run of good growth over previous years. Self sufficiency in poultry products sits at 92%.

 

Professor Rod Vaughan, who was involved in the research at The University of Reading, said the industry was doing well but it needed need to make serious investment in the coming years.

 

"When you look at some of the things that need to be addressed over the coming few years, the need to re-invest, that could be a challenge and I think it will hold back expansion," Prof Rod Vaughan said.

 

A National Farmers Union (NFU) study revealed more than a fifth of growing space is more than 35-years-old, well past the accepted working life of buildings.

 

Vaughan said British producers could take heart from the advanced rates of conversion to free range or enriched cages ahead of the 2012 conventional cage ban.

 

"At the moment approximately 60% of the UK laying flock is producing eggs in cages, France is at 70% and its 95% in Spain," he said. "So one would expect the UK to get ahead of some of its southern European competitors. What is unclear is if people are going to invest in enriched cages or go further and invest in free-range type of production."

 

It has been reported that high-welfare eggs sales grew to become to 52.6% of the market over the period from 2009 until the beginning of 2010, with industry experts saying producers were flocking to the sector.

 

Another area of concern is new Integrated Pollution Prevention Control (IPPC) regulations which label almost 80% of Britain as being a nitrate-affected zone, limiting the amount of manure which can be spread on the land.

 

Prof Vaughan said poultry farmers could be affected in particular as they generally do not have large holdings of land on which to spread manure.

 

"The IPPC regulations could be problematic because if they don't have the land to export the manure it could limit the rate they can expand," he said.

 

"Unless they can come to an arrangement with large intensive arable producers who would value the manure it would be very difficult because the majority of poultry producers don't have land to spread their manure," he said.