BBC Countryfile presenter Adam Henson delivered a clear message at the recent Egg and Poultry Industry Conference, that the industry needs to be more proactive at showing the general public how, and more importantly why, it produces food in the way it does.
He said there was a real thirst for knowledge, and the sector would only lose by keeping its head down and closing its doors to the public. Professor Sir Colin Spedding delivered a similar message.
I have to admit, I agree a lot with what they are saying. Of course issues of biosecurity have to be properly addressed, and how to get the right message across has to be worked out carefully. And of course there is always the risk that a mischievous media will still try and present a distorted picture.
But in my experience, the general public have more intelligence than they are sometimes given credit for, local media are generally pretty responsible and, at the end of day, it is surely better to try and get the message across in a resposible way, rather than leaving it to the likes of Viva or Peta.

Absolutely. Where people see closed doors they see somebody with something to hide.
The UK poultry industry should be proud of it's welfare standards and their commitment high quality. Farmers shouldn't be afraid to open their doors to a public increasing wanting to reconnect with food production.
And it's always good to remember, one positive encounter with a farm and a farmer can sell poultry better than any advertising campaign ever could.

I agree. Although no longer in the UK, I kept hens on a smallish commercial scale in the 1960s/70s including battery cages, and free range in the 1990s/early 2000s. I have no objection to battery cages and believe that in many cases the birds' welfare is better served by cages than free ranging. It is impossible in many areas of the UK to give free range birds the "Freedom" of Freedom from Fear. Losses can be very high.

Last night at Eurotier the representative of the German agriculture minister said

"We have to open our farms, we have to tell people what's going on and gain their hearts and minds."

Perhaps this is the beginning of a groundswell amongst producers across Europe about the importance of brining the public back to production? It all sounds pretty positive.

phil clarke:

it is surely better to try and get the message across in a resposible way, rather than leaving it to the likes of Viva or Peta.

As ever. Good sense from Phil.

The more people see/hear and experience the more likely they are to have a sense of balance and proportion. It is much more difficult to get a bunch of experienced people wound up about anything than it is a crowd of uniformed folk.

On a bigger scale though, a bit more thought needs to go into how to allow some of the public in. I certainly wouldn't want people walking off the road into a big laying house (if I had one) however good the standards were. Something like "Farm Sunday" might be the way to go, but doing that sort of thing is a major amount of effort. Inviting in classes from the local primary school sounds an excellent idea, but again, providing loos and handbasins with running water for them all is not a trivial or cheap exercise, to say nothing of public liability insurance.

 I have often toyed with the idea of Farm Sunday, not purely as an educative means of boosting poultry farming's image but also as a way of educating my neighbours, the majority of whom are relatively recent 'incomers' and who believe that the countryside is purely to look at and walk their dogs in. Poultry Farming seems to be either a nuisance, or necessary evil to them, mainly because they perceive it to be inextricably linked with smell, noise, vermin and heavy traffic, poor welfare and animal suffering,  views which I think are mostly outdated and haven't been helped by various TV Chefs outlook on things.

I also viewed the thought of Farming Sunday as a way of perhaps swinging peoples point of view around from being anti planning permission for more units or replacement of existing units with more modern environmentally friendly ones instead, especially with me being on the outskirts of a village.

What puts me off is the thought of dozens nay hundreds of people descending on my premises and overwhelming our disease precautions and staff, deliberate or accidental tampering by unwelcome elements or sticky fingered children as they go round, or them using it as an excuse to film covertly and gather intelligence for a possible future unauthorized entrance of their own. I believe I can make any member of the public see farming from my perspective and make them feel okay about what I and why I do it, its the ones who don't want to be 'converted' or enlightened that bother me. I think that inviting small groups of carefully selected people with a certain amount of standing or clout in your local community, as Adam Henson appears to have done with a dozen himself, is the best approach as you can address each person individually as you show them round and answer questions directly and specifically rather than trotting out the same formulaic answers to a throng over and over again. More fun to engage them on a more personal level too I find. Once they are convinced they will spread the word around the community and hopefully help to convince others. 

I am currently in the planning process for a Free Range Poultry Unit.  I knew I would get some opposition from Neighbours, when my near neighbour told me of his plight with a general planning application,  However the shear ferocity of the objections took me aback.  You'd have thought that I was planning a motorway with the amount of traffic they thought I was adding not the 3 vehicle movements per week.  Likewise with the vermin, apparently I'd signed a contract with the Pied Piper to take all his followers for the next 20 years!!!! 

As you'll see from my previous blogs, Lambing Live Good Farming PR, that I feel PR is what Agriculture in general needs. 

But those of us within the Farming industry should not be freightened of the media.  There are plenty of example of why farmers may feel justified in being cautious of the media, "Eggwina" and "Foot and Mouth" to name but two.  As a result of my planning application I had several local papers contact me for information and comment. 

Media people are reasonable enough if you know how to deal with them and it's not difficult.  Having worked in media for over 15 years now I have a good idea of what it is the journalist needs to make a story and how not to give them fuel for the fire.   

So we should embrace PR and I think in a measured way we should educate the public.  My experience tells me that the public are freightened of what they don't understand, so explain and take them with you.

viewfromtheothersideofthefence:

However the shear ferocity of the objections took me aback.  You'd have thought that I was planning a motorway with the amount of traffic they thought I was adding not the 3 vehicle movements per week.  Likewise with the vermin, apparently I'd signed a contract with the Pied Piper to take all his followers for the next 20 years!!!!

A nice turn of phrase and we all know what you mean.

I often wonder how one should go about making ones point and telling/showing others the truth without being assailed as uncaring, unthinking, selfish, malign and all the other epithets that get thrown at one.

I fear I haven't cracked it yet but am increasingly finding that if I avoid responding to the personal stuff and instead, stick to the salient point of the argument, I get listened too.

It may not be as exciting a conversation or interesting for onlookers but I do seem to make more progress.

This makes me think that maybe, we ought to stick to our guns and face down our detractors. A battery house or broiler house may not be a pretty sight for a lot of people, but to offer those people the option to buy a small number for their own use would bring in a bit more cash and compel them to enter the real world of choices.

On a general point, when people are given choices they have to reconcile the gains and losses of a each particular choice in their own heads. In this way they become more aware of the realities of life and alert to its costs and benefits. Costs and benefits not just as measured in money but as measured in stress levels and in other ways. This is the background thinking to my general point that the more people see, hear and experience the lesser the chance of their being manipulated by narrow minded bigots with narrow agendas.

So I say. Open up the farm to a practical level, let people see and hear and tell them the truth. Do not apologise for doing the thing you care about. Very few farmers hate their stock or birds and, whilst they may not love them, they care for them and wish them well during their life. And, as I have said before, there is always one or two animals to which we become attached and for which we have genuine empathy. Tell the public that as well.

You should point out to them as I do that you are doing them a favour if you attract vermin to your premises because unlike them you actually put bait down and kill rodents rather than encouraging and feeding them by putting out food for wild birds in your garden.  I rarely see a rodent and if I do its a dead one, so I'm doing them a service in a way by ridding the local environment of pests.

Recently had a planning application by a neighbour for a similar enterprise and he had the same ill informed arguments trotted out by the NIMBY brigade against it. It seemed ironic that they complained about the 3 lorry movements per week and the danger of them turning in and out on a busy A road when the applicant already has a haulage yard on the same road with a dozen artics operating from it. After moving the building nearer his yard he got his planning ok. But it goes to show how desperate some of these people will get to try and thwart a farming business based on their own ignorance and stupidity. I had a similar experience with a planning application 4 years ago. My nearest neighbour cycles past my farm every day. One day he stopped as he passed and said ' you know you don't cause us any bother at all, there's no noise or smell or anything, we have no problem with your farm at all' then he paused and added....'provided you don't apply for any planning permission' and rode off. Fortunately my local district council have a sensible point of view and granted planning for more sheds. Their attitude is that we need jobs, we need food, and we need to keep the local economy going and as a result voted 12 -1 in favour which will hopefully stick in the NIMBYs minds next time I put in for planning. Perhaps inviting your Parish Council, if you have one, around for a farm visit prior to applying for planning might help them to see things from your perspective and get them onside before they vote on your application?

In my opinion...

Yes on an industry level, we have to dispel the old way of producing broiler chickens. Birds in the shops used to show signs of breast burn!... This is unaceptable to all of us now... Breast & hock burn demonstrates poor management & is recognised and severly repromanded by the 'factory Vet'...

But NO on a personal/ individual level... Following 4 yr on-going complants from a neighbough re noise & odour every time the wind blew in thier direction (even re new shavings) Via the E.A. ...

To then open up the farm for further critisism from 'who knows who' is just asking for trouble...

As a Broiler Farm Manager, we should always focus on improving what we do... & may be show how many chickens are actually consumed each year & why they could never all be Free Range... & Broilers live in the perfect Temp & RH controled environments

n