UK egg producers have warned that the future of the premium free range sector is at risk if the eggs lose their prized status because of the ongoing threat of bird flu.
Flocks of free range hens are being housed indoors because of the bird flu outbreak – and if they are unable to go back outside by the end of February the eggs would be downgraded to “barn produced”, the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) has warned.
In early December last year the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) ordered that all free range hens – providing eggs or meat – should be housed to protect against the threat of the H5N8 influenza virus. At that time there were no cases in the UK but there were numerous reports of cases in other European countries. The so-called “housing order” was for 30 days.
Since then, cases of H5N8 have been found in the UK – on two turkey farms in Lincolnshire and in backyard flocks in Wales and North Yorkshire – as well as in a number of wild birds around the country. Chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens subsequently extended the housing order until the end of February. Bird flu has since been found in a flock of farmed pheasants in Lancashire, Gibbens confirmed this week.
Concern is now growing among free range producers because the extension will take the housing order to the end of the 12-week period – imposed by the European Union – beyond which free range birds will lose their status unless they are allowed outdoors. Mark Williams, chief executive of the BEIC, is calling for the 12-week cut-off to be extended.
“The egg industry is hoping that the risk of avian influenza from wild birds will dissipate to the level that free range hens can go back outside after that date, and are currently planning enhanced biosecurity measures to ensure that any risk to the hens’ health, particularly from contact with wild birds, is minimised,” Williams said.
“If the chief veterinary officer advises that free range hens need to continue to be housed for a further period (possibly one or two months) the industry is planning to put stickers on free range egg packs explaining that the birds are currently housed, accompanied by point-of-sale material in supermarkets and a website for further information, to ensure full transparency for consumers.”
Free range eggs currently represent 56% of UK retail egg sales – the highest proportion of any European country – whereas just 2% of eggs are from the barn system.
Williams said that if free range hens were unable to go back outside at the end of February, the viability of the free range sector would suffer if their eggs were to be downgraded to barn.
“There would not be sufficient barn packaging to enable a wholesale switch across the industry, particularly when it is unlikely to be required for more than a few weeks. There would also be a delay in the correct free range packaging being available again after the hens return outside.”
The BEIC said free range producers still incur the same costs for land and staff while birds are housed, and in some cases face increased costs to house their birds. Most free range production in the UK comes from small, independently-run family farms whose existence would be threatened by not being able to continue to sell their eggs as free range, with appropriate labelling, should the current housing order be extended.
Farmers’ leaders in other EU countries are pressing for the same extension, and the issue was raised by both Dutch and Belgian representatives at a meeting of the EU agriculture and fisheries council earlier in January.
Between October and January there were a total of 761 outbreaks of H5N8 in Europe – 51% in poultry and the rest in wild birds. Some 1.6m poultry birds were destroyed. As well as affecting 18 countries in Europe, H5N8 has also been found in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Public Health England advises that the threat to human health from avian flu remains low.
UK egg producers warn free range sector at risk due to bird flu controls
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