Christmas turkey producers have increased flock sizes

Sky high feed prices were not allowed to dent the optimism of the NFU’s autumn series of Christmas turkey marketing meetings.

The series started in Essex at the Anglian Turkey Association meeting and wound up in the middle of October at the Cosby Golf Club, Leicester. 

When producers were asked who had expanded their Christmas flocks, a number admitted to a substantial increase over 2006. At the Rockingham Arms near Rotherham there were reports of traditional farmfresh flocks rising from 390 to 450 birds, 1,240 to 1,400 and 2,000 to 2,500.    

Several producers spoke of their relief that they had been able to buy feed forward. It had been a gamble but it had taken some of the sting out of current feed prices, they admitted. Andrew Fothergill of BOCM Pauls had no crumbs of comfort to offer about 2008.   

Grain was in deficit world-wide due to extremes of weather – floods in Britain, droughts on the Continent, forest fires in Australia for the second successive year and in the USA. He put bought-forward price at £130/tonne against a current price of £160.      

The memory of the avian flu outbreak in Suffolk at the beginning of the year still lingered, said NFU poultry adviser Sam Hawkes. “It perked up trade for a number of producers as customers insisted that their Christmas turkey be locally produced.”  

According to the NFU survey returns, feed prices had risen 13% since 2006 with an average of £175/tonne. Prices ranged from £146 to £239. Poult prices were up 3%, labour 4.8%, marketing 11.5% and bird disposal 17.8% 

Mike Bailey, NFU turkey chairman, wound up the series with a sobering assessment of the dramatic impact imports had had on the UK industry in recent years.  

Year-round home production had been halved and was now around 15m with Bernard Matthews the main contributor at 7million followed by Cranberry at 4m, Lincs Turkeys at 2m, small year round producers at 1m and the same for seasonal Christmas producers. 

While home production had slumped, UK consumption was steady at around 30m bird-equivalents indicating the missing 15m was imported, mainly frozen whole birds, cut-ups and further processed from South America, south east Asia, eastern Europe and the EU.