Scottish Egg Producer Retailers Association Date: 27th June 2014 MARKET REPORT www.scottisheggs.co.uk sepramail@gmail.com Size V. Large Large Medium Small Farm to Shop Prices 1.49 1.25 1.15 80p Scottish Wholesaler Prices 1.20 80p 75p English Wholesaler Colony 1.30 90p 1.43 1.23 Colony 1.25 1.40 1.00 1.40 80p 1.23 80p 1.30 Packer / Producer Contracted average Price Organic FreeRange Barn Colony 1.20/ 1.45 85p/ 1.10 75p/ 1.00 70p/95p Producer / Consumer V. Large Large Medium Small - Colony Prices 2.00 1.85 1.40 90p - Free Range Prices 3.00 2.35 1.93 1.05 Free-Range to Farm Shop Prices 1.75/ 2.25 1.31/ 1.91 1.15/ 1.45 95p 60p 70p 65p 70p Central Egg Agency Colony 99p 85p 75p 1.40 1.25 1.15 Imported Continental Prices in Bulk Dutch Eggs Barn 84p 72p(+2p) 65p(+1p) 57p 87p Market is a bit funny, most people saying it s a bit quiet, basically no change price wise but quite a lot of discount especially on Free Range and we have heard of some particularly low prices on forward contracts for Free Range and we wonder what will happen when some of the special offers finish. Rodenticides, the media in the last few days has been on about the super rats which are now immune to the normal rodenticides this is an escalating problem, will government allow the use of the next more powerful generation of rodenticides or not. As an industry the effort and commitment that has been put in to eliminate salmonellas could be undermined if this explosion in the rodent population is not curtailed. But the EU, or rather Brussels because of lobbying from some of the wildlife organisations that traces of rodenticides were being found in birds of prey, particularly owls, are proposing legislation to ban baiting stations outside of buildings to minimise this problem, which is the last thing this industry would want as rodents in buildings would be suicidal and destroy all the hard work that has been carried out.
We understand that the NFU England has been particular active in lobbying against this proposed legislation and getting special dispensation for pig and poultry production facilities. Let s hope that common-sense will prevail. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Effect of range enrichment on free-range chickens Italian researchers carried out a study to see the "Effect of range enrichment on performance, behaviour, and forage intake of free-range chickens". According to the study forage intake was significantly influenced by rearing system and season. Naked Neck rooster The aim of the present study was to analyse the effect of range enrichment (trees or tall grass stand) on the performance and herbage intake of free-range chicken. This trial was conducted in 2 different seasons (winter and summer) comparing a standard free-range system with 2 kinds of range enrichment: a stand of sorghum (a tall grass) and olive trees. 250 male naked neck chickens were used in each season and system; performance, behaviour, forage intake, and body lesions were recorded. Productive performance was not affected by range enrichment. However, in the presence of trees or tall grass stand, no predation losses were experienced; whereas, in the standard paddock, cases of predation by raptors or crows were registered, mainly during the first period of rearing. Consequently, mortality rate was significantly lower in the enriched environment. Control chickens stayed indoors more rather than forage in the pasture, whereas, in enriched environments, birds spent more time outdoors and widely exploited the available pasture. Forage intake was significantly influenced by rearing system and season; chickens reared under olive trees had higher herbage ingestion, exploring the available area up to almost 50m from the hut. With the olive trees, chickens also showed the lowest frequency of foot and breast damage. Source: The Journal of Applied Poultry Research Volume 23, Issue 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effect of cereal grinding methods on egg quality Spanish researchers looked at the influence of the method of grinding of the cereals used in layers diets on production and egg quality. The studied took 420 Hy-line brown egg-laying hens, randomly placed with six treatments arranged as a 3 2 factorial with three cereals (barley, dented maize and soft wheat) and two grinding procedures (hammer mill vs. roller mill). Each treatment was replicated seven times and the experimental unit was an enriched cage with ten hens. Production was recorded every four weeks from 24 to 59 weeks of age and egg quality was measured at 40 and 56 weeks of age. For the entire experiment, feed intake was higher in hens fed wheat or maize than in hens fed barley (110.8 and 110.7 vs. 109.7 g/d; P = 0.014) but most of the differences were observed when the cereal was roller milled (P = 0.009 for the interaction). Also, egg production was similar for the three diets when the cereal was hammer milled but tended to be lower for the barley than for the wheat or maize diets when the cereal was roller milled (P = 0.09 for the interaction). None of the other productive or egg quality traits was affected by dietary treatment. The researchers concluded that roller mills are useful to grind low fibre cereals, such as maize or wheat. However, the use of the roller mill might not be adequate when barley is the main cereal in diets for egglaying hens. [Source: Science Direct] Coals to Newcastle comes to mind with this next piece as the US usually tries to convert home grown grain into higher value product which is then exported, improving the efficiency of what potentially would be one of their main competitors on the world market is unusual as South America already has some of the cheapest grain production in the world. US grain sees opportunity in Latin America s poultry In recent years poultry has become the most important agricultural enterprise in Latin American economies with yearly consumption per capita experiencing increases of more than 10% in the last five years. Plus poultry is the dominant consumer of feed grains in Latin America. Since the expansion of livestock production in feed-deficient countries is a principal driver of growth in coarse grain trade, this sector in Latin America is an important market for US grain exports to the region. Latin American poultry uses approximately 21 million metric tons of feed grains for poultry meat production and 7 million tons for egg production. The US Grains Council has assessed this trend and is aware that in order for this sector to continue growing, poultry producers in the region need to broaden their knowledge in poultry management and nutrition. To this end, the Council hosted a team of Latin American poultry executives to the United States last
week. The team visited US grain inspection facilities, US producers through the Arkansas Corn and Grain Sorghum Board, and university researchers to discuss proper poultry feed formulations as well as modern management practices which could help the Latin American poultry executives maximise profit. While at the US grain inspection facilities the team gained an appreciation for the marketing programmes and state-of-the-art equipment that is currently being used by the US government to guarantee the quality of the grain that is exported. The other visits highlighted the value-added services that come with sourcing grains from the United States. The team was able to gain an appreciation for the United States being the long-term, reliable supplier of coarse grains and co-products. World Poultry ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We understand that the EU has just signed association agreements with the Ukraine.!!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why did the hen cross the basketball court? Because the referee kept calling fowl! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------