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Chapter 1: What challenges are Irish poultry farmers facing today?
Now, we all like to think of animals being well treated and many are prepared to pay a premium to make sure that happens, which is why free-range eggs are so popular. But behind the farm gate, a crisis is brewing. Irish poultry farmers are facing a perfect storm of skyrocketing feed costs, strict regulations and the constant looming threat of bird flu lockdown.
So is the supply of Irish free-range eggs under threat? Here to answer that question are Chagosk Specialised Poultry Advisor Rebecca Tierney and Dara McCullough, farmer and broadcaster. You're both very welcome.
Chapter 2: Is the demand for free-range eggs increasing in Ireland?
Rebecca, I might go to you first. There is a huge demand, consumer demand for free-range eggs in Ireland, isn't there?
Oh yeah, David, thanks for having me. Yeah, there certainly is.
Chapter 3: Do farmers actually benefit from the premium on free-range eggs?
It's the... production system of eggs that we see grow year on year. When you go to your shop shelf, that's what's going to meet you at your eye line, which shows it's in demand. A large brown free range egg is what our Irish consumer is looking for.
Do they taste any different?
To be honest, I don't know, because it's typically a free range egg that I consume myself. And that's just from the farmers I deal with. The vast majority of them are free-range egg producers. So get them at the farm gate.
Okay.
Chapter 4: How much more does it cost to produce free-range eggs?
Dara, consumers pay a premium for free-range eggs. Do farmers get a cut of that premium?
They get a cut, but like most, I suppose, produce that comes from the farm, most primary produce, it's a pretty small fraction of the shelf price that ends up in the farmer's pocket. So typically a third of the shelf price of the products you see on the shelf are ending up in the farmer's pocket, whether it's milk, eggs, you know, a head of lettuce or anything else.
So, you know, if there's a premium for your free range eggs of, say, 20 or 30 or 40 cent, about a third of that premium ends up going back to the farmer.
Okay. And how much more expensive is it to produce free range eggs?
Well, there is the million-dollar question.
But you're here to answer it, Dara.
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Chapter 5: What makes free-range egg production more labor-intensive?
Well, I have a tiny flock, right? Like, you know, 100 birds. And it's a Mickey Mouse flock compared to most commercial operators. What I'm told is that it costs about for maybe 4 cent extra per... 0.4 cent extra per egg to produce an egg in a free range system. I don't run a barn system.
Most of the barn systems from what I hear are operated by the packers and that's a fairly small ring of producers and they keep the numbers and their cards fairly close to their chest.
Is it more work, though? Is there more work involved in free range?
Absolutely.
Chapter 6: Are rising costs affecting the supply of free-range eggs?
Definitely more work. For example, the days are getting long and particularly over the next month, it doesn't get dark until about maybe 10 o'clock in the evening. The birds, the free range birds want to be out when it's daylight, when there's any light around. And so very often it's like herding cats. It's almost impossible to round them up before it starts to get dark.
So most free-range egg producers are out running around the field or a paddock at 9 or 10 o'clock in the evening trying to get the last of their birds back into their shed. If you have a barn system, you're tucked up inside with your cup of tea watching the telly.
Okay, and you obviously have to get the birds in.
That's just one example.
Yeah, you have to get the birds in because there's foxes around.
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Chapter 7: How do bird flu regulations impact free-range egg production?
Absolutely. So if you leave your birds out overnight, there's a risk that predators will start trying to hop the fence or the birds escape or that the weather changes suddenly and a storm blows in. So you want to get the birds into safety. And the birds also, if finally dawns and when it does get dark enough, that they want to be inside and roosting in a safe place.
Okay. Rebecca, obviously then free range is more labour intensive or more awkward for the farmer. And have costs increased over the last couple of years? The cost of everything seems to have increased, but particularly for poultry farmers.
Yeah, so similar to all poultry. agricultural systems, we've seen pricing increase, same as our standard day-to-day living costs.
Chapter 8: What is the difference between organic and free-range eggs?
Electricity, the price of the pullet in the last two, three years has gone up two euro per bird and possibly slightly more. So your starting point straight away, you're out more money before you ever commence. Feed has increased. Now, to be fair, feed and egg price are index linked, but the feed has gone up, so you have to factor that in.
Medication costs, so not necessarily that the birds are getting a lot of medication, but when they do, the price of disinfectants for our biosecurity, and that's a really important point for protecting our poultry flocks to ensure that they are healthy and that they produce to the highest percentage that they can. But oil costs, labour costs, transport, feed, everything has gone up.
And with that it hasn't always been reflected back on the egg price. And as Dara said, the premium doesn't always come back to the farmer. And in comparison, a barn egg to a free range egg with the additional costs, but also the additional risk whereby the birds are outdoors. They're mingling potentially with wild birds.
They're pecking in the ground that potentially contains some infection or worms or anything like nature. They have additional costs associated with that then as well.
Okay. And are rising costs having an effect on supply?
In terms of supply, the risk or the reason for a shortage of supply at the current minute is that our demand has increased drastically in the last number of years in terms of consumption of eggs, which is brilliant. It's exactly what we want. So our demand has gone from about 181 eggs back in 2018-19. to 215 to 225 is the average consumption of eggs by the Irish consumer. So it's massive.
Now that's eating whole eggs, whether that be scrambled or omelettes or whatever it be, and included in your baked goods as well. So to meet that demand, our production hasn't expanded in line with that. And the reason for that is the sheer cost to get into this industry.
You're talking, no matter what size you look at now, in terms of commercial size flock, the smallest you would see for a free range would be 16,000. And you're talking 1.5, 1.6 million. Up front. Yeah, to build that unit. And then you purchase your birds, your feed and everything thereafter. So that's just your...
your house, your equipment, your egg store, your manure store, and that gets you in. You have to also consider that there's a huge block of land associated with that. So for every thousand birds that is housed within the house, you must have one hectare of ground available for them to range to be Bordbea quality assured.
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