Page 2 - National Poultry Newspaper

Egg farmers want to help educate
Poultry Industry Calendar of Events
2022
MAR 30 - APR 1 – 7th International Conference on Poultry Intestinal Health, Columbia, www.ihsig.com
MAY 10-11 – British Pig & Poultry Fair, Stoneleigh UK, pigandpoultry.org.uk
MAY 15-17 – Poultry Information Exchange and Australasian Milling Conference (PIX/AMC), www.pixamc. com.au
MAY 31 - JUN 2 – VIV Europe 2022, Netherlands, viveurope.nl
NOV 6-10 – SIMA Paris, France, en.simaonline.com
NOV 8-10 – European Symposium on Poultry Genetics, Hannover Germany, www.espg2022.org
2023
SEP 4-8 – Congress of the World Veterinary Poultry Association, Verona Italy, www.wvpac2021.com
How to supply event details: Send all details to National Poultry Newspaper, PO Box 162, Wynnum Qld 4178, call 07 3286 1833 or email: design@collins.media
poultrynews.com.au
07 3286 1833
MOST of us have had backyard chooks at one time or another.
vide a fact sheet to their family, friends and neigh- bours who raise backyard chooks.
One issue highlighted by this is egg stamping.
But these days, without the right vigilance, keeping chickens for home-grown eggs can be risky.
For a copy of the fact sheet, visit eggfarmersaustralia. org
This refers to the prac- tice using a registered ink stamp to mark eggs with an identification number.
In fact, with the launch of the new five-year 2022- 2026 strategic plan, Egg Farmers of Australia wants to help educate backyard chook owners about the huge risks they possibly pose to the nation’s com- mercial egg industry.
Meanwhile, our 2022- 2026 strategic plan will also look at continuing our important role in lob- bying governments and industry officials on im- portant issues affecting egg farmers.
Rules vary from states to state.
However, recently EFA provided a submission to Food Safety Australia New calling for uniform national egg stamping laws.
by MELINDA HASHIMOTO CEO
Many people with back- yard chooks are often una- ware of their legal responsi- bilities when it comes to the spread of poultry disease.
carton more than once. This is because disease microbes can be relayed
Australia’s commercial farmers produce 17.9 mil- lion eggs daily – equating to 6.3 billion eggs a year.
One key issue you will hear more about down the track is our desire to har- monise regulations per- taining to the egg industry across the country.
This means that all eggs offered for sale in Australia – commercial or home- grown – should be stamped with a unique ID symbol, so that they can be traced back to the farm of origin in the event of a serious outbreak of human or ani- mal disease.
Over the past few years, we have seen poultry dis- eases – such as salmonella enteritidis and avian in- fluenza – affect the com- mercial egg sector, forcing farms to quarantine or, in the case of AI, having their entire flocks destroyed.
from eggs to the carton. So, by recycling a com- pany’s carton, backyard chook owners run the risk of actually spreading dis-
It is a small yet very im- portant food industry for the nation, so we have to protect it from disease risk.
Currently there are multi- ple laws in different states.
One key biosecurity risk that backyard hen owners mistakenly undertake is the practice of re-using old egg cartons to exchange back- yard eggs with their neigh- bours, family and friends.
We’re about making them aware that they play an im- portant role in the biosecu- rity of the nation’s entire egg industry.
Many backyard chook owners give away their eggs in second-hand car- tons originally obtained from egg purchases at su- permarkets, which contain commercial branding.
at the end of January.
The strategic plan out- lines core work that EFA will focus on in the coming years, including biosecuri- ty, food safety, research and
Without the help of back- yard chook owners being diligent, Australia’s entire commercial domestic egg industry could be placed at risk in any state or territory.
It is in fact illegal in most states to use an egg
government regulations. The strategic plan pro- vides Egg Farmers of Aus- traliawithfocusanddirec- tion for the next five years.
We encourage all com- mercial egg farmers to pro-
Egg Farmers of Australia chief executive officer Melinda Hashimoto. EFA wants to help educate back- yardchookownersaboutthehugeriskstheypossibly pose to the nation’s commercial egg industry.
ease around their region. To combat the issue, Egg Farmers of Australia will provide resources to back- yard chook owners to en- courage them to learn more about the egg industry – in a bid to educate on the dos and don’ts of hen manage-
Many families keep chooks and we’re not de- monising them for that.
ment and food safety.
The education strategy forms part of the EFA five- year strategic plan launched
Under the strategic plan, Egg Farmers of Australia has produced a fact sheet that highlights the steps that backyard chook own- ers should abide by to help reduce outbreaks of poultry disease.
Attracting great researchers
* from P1
latency to first access the range.
from the PHA scholar- ship by learning how to write for a specific target audience, as well as being given the opportunity to share my work in written form with the industry and other poultry enthu- siast, as there is no point doing science if it never gets to the people and
I hope you are all safe and well and encourage you to reach out – we are always looking for ways to support industry and farmers and would welcome any suggestions ofhowwecanbeofas- sistance.
Thus, she has demon- strated that the provi- sion of transparent pop- holes in commercial free range meat chicken sheds could increase the amount of time that meat chickens will spend on the range.
animals who need it.” The PHA team wishes Natalie all the best with
If you have an idea or would like to chat all things poultry, don’t hesitate to contact our office poultryhub@une. edu.au
Increasing ranging ac- tivity of the birds has the potential to reassure free range chicken meat con- sumers by ensuring that free range birds do in- deed access the outdoor range.
her futures studies.
This may help to retain consumer trust and main- tain the social license of the meat chicken industry.
Of the $5000 PHA scholarship, Natalie said it “allowed me to focus on my project and achieve the best possible scien- tific outcomes, while giv- ing the highest level of care to the research birds without the pressures of financial burden, which for a first-time researcher was a major advantage and peace of mind.”
Natalie hard at work with the chicken used for her honours project at the University of New England.
Natalie developed a study to investigate the rela- tionship between rearing environments, activity, leg health and ranging behaviour of meat chickens.
“During the project I was involved in daily health checks, herd- ing chickens in and out of the shed, managing technology, conducting behavioural assessments and completing the final year of my rural science degree at UNE, so tak- ing on other work would have been nearly impos- sible.
“I also have benefited
Supply chain issues for chicken meat industry
* from P1
A monopsony is a market dominated by a single buyer with the power to influence prices.
significantly from batch to batch.
Australian Chicken Growers Council ex- ecutive officer Michael Moore said since the turn of the century smaller processors has been absorbed by larger businesses, leading to decreasing levels of competition at the pro- cessing level and as a result monopsony con- ditions.
According to Ms Ea- sey, a decade ago in NSW there were nine significant chicken meat processing plants owned by six differ- ent companies, now there are four process- ing plants in the state owned by only two companies.
“Processors are more able to put in place pric- ing that may be push- ing growers to the edge of unprofitability,” Mr Moore said.
Processing plants where chickens are cut into pieces – such as thigh and breast fillets, resulting in more whole chickens shipped to su- permarkets and other retailers – have been se- verely impacted by staff shortages.
“If they are the only person out there offer- ing a contract, it’s take it or leave it – that is the price.”
Mr Moore said that meat processing plants are vulnerable to the spread of viruses be- cause people work in close proximity to each other.
In the past, processors used to be prepared to issue contracts for up to 10 years, which would cover the cost of build- ing new farm infra- structure.
However, industry re- ports that staff short- ages were not only at processing plants but across the whole supply chain, including trans- port.
However, according to Mr Moore, contract terms have fallen stead- ily over the years with many growers on yearly contracts.
The perishable agri- cultural goods inquiry report released by the Australian Competition and Consumer Com- mission in 2020 ac- knowledged the power imbalance in the chick- en meat industry.
NSW Farmers poul- try meat manager Peta Easey said chicken growers were forced to compete in a pool system, and the final buying price can vary
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Page 2 – National Poultry Newspaper, February 2022
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