At the close of the year, egg and poultry producers have now experienced six months of relatively stable ration costs after two years of turbulence in the feed market. The last month has brought small declines in the cost of both wheat and soya, which in turn has...
In Pictures: This year’s British Poultry Council award winners
THE British Poultry Council Awards once again celebrated achievement in the poultrymeat sector with a ceremony held at the House of Commons in early December. The BPC Annual Awards recognise long and distinguished careers, contributions to research, potential for...
Noble Foods refreshes Freshlay Farms brand
NOBLE FOODS is to re-launch its Freshlay Farms premium free-range brand into Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and the Co-op with a focus on their flavour. The 'Freshlay Farms Golden Yolker' packs of six and ten free-range eggs replace the former 'Freshlay Golden Yolks' brand...
FSA issues salmonella alert over Polish poultrymeat and eggs
THE Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued an alert following a rise in cases of salmonella poisoning linked to poultry products imported from Poland. This year, more than 200 human cases of salmonellosis have been caused by specific genetic strains of Salmonella...
Rabobank: Outlook for UK poultrymeat sector ‘fragile’
RABOBANK has said that the UK’s poultrymeat market faces a ‘fragile’ outlook for 2024 as various factors challenge sector profitability. The bank’s global animal protein outlook for next year makes a particular note of the UK’s poultrymeat sector. See also: Broiler...
Animal Welfare Committee looks in detail at male chick culling
THE UK’s Animal Welfare Committee has published a new report examining the practice of male chick culling. In particular, the research looks at new technologies that can determine the sex of fertilised eggs before hatch. See also: Broiler placings show modest growth...
Layer placings suggest return to confidence in egg market
UK egg producers displayed a surge of confidence in October when pullet placings soared to 4.2 million for the month. This was a total not seen in any month since October 2020, and was up by 800,000 day-old chicks compared with October last year. See also: Complete...
Free-range egg producer relieved to re-stock after bird flu
The following story is an edited case study supplied by Noble Foods. A free-range egg farmer has told of his relief at returning to production a year after avian influenza hit his farm. William Waind, a 25-year-old farmer keeps hens for Noble Foods Happy Egg brand at...
NFU appoints external consultants to run Red Tractor review
THE NFU has appointed consultants Campbell Tickell to complete an independent review of the governance of Red Tractor. It follows the controversial introduction of a voluntary module that attempted to create a "single consistent industry approach" to sustainability...
Cassy Price named chief executive of International Egg Foundation
THE International Egg Foundation (IEF) has promoted executive director of programmes Cassy Smith to the role of chief executive. The charity said the move marked a new chapter for the IEF, which, at close to ten years old, promotes the production and consumption of...
Broiler placings show modest growth in 2023
AFTER ten months of the year, the long-term expansion in the broiler sector appears to be back on track, although at a fairly modest rate. Although chick placings in the first quarter were down by 3.2 million compared with the same period last year, the situation has...
2 new non-execs for Noble Foods board
NOBLE FOODS has announced the appointment of two non-executive directors to its board. Mallika Basu and Anwar Sultan will join Noble Foods in November 2023 and February 2024 respectively, bringing experience in marketing, commercial, and digital development. See...