On 24 August, HF&P director Martin Humphrey, joined representatives from the NFU, Organic Farmers & Growers and Hook 2 Sisters, to meet with Defra on a broiler and layer farm near Exeter.
The purpose of the meeting was to impress upon Defra the potentially devastating impact to organic poultry and pig producers if the EU's exceptional permissions for organic feed and pullets were to end on 31 December 2017.
Currently the exceptional permissions enable organic poultry farmers to use 5% non organic feed in their flock’s diet. Whilst everyone in the organic community are keen for poultry diets to be as organic as possible, if this permission were to end it would lead to a deficiency of the essential amino acid, Methionine, which is needed by monogastrics for immunity and disease prevention.
For further information on the challenge of 100% organic poultry diets click here.
In addition, up to now the use of part organic pullets has been authorised because they are not given access to an organic range until up to 18 weeks of age. This is due to rearers not wanting to expose their pullets to variable day length, potential predators and the lack of available land.
If these exceptional permissions are not continued it would have a devastating impact on the organic poultry meat and egg sector.
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