December 31, 2007

EU poultry farmers see IPPC reductions as threat to production

EU small poultry producers and growers who use glasshouses are threatened by new EU rules, which categorize their businesses into the same pollution control bracket as power stations.

The proposed revisions to the IPPC include reducing the current IPPC thresholds from 40,000 to 30,000 for laying hens, 24,000 for ducks and 11,500 for turkeys. This entails smaller free-range, thus organic poultry farms would be included.

Farmers are worried as this will hike costs at a time when there is rapid rise to feed and fuel bills.

Another significant revision is the lowering of the thermal input threshold from 50 to 20 megawatts, bringing a significant part of UK glasshouse production within the scope of the new directive.

Charles Bourns, National Farmers Union (NFU) poultry board chairman, said he feared the increase in administration and costs incurred from IPPC revisions could be the last straw for some smaller farms.

IPPC or Integrated Pollution Prevention Control is an environmental legislation aimed to control or eliminate adverse effects of the poultry industry to air, water and land.