Jonathan rears turkeys and pigs on his family farm in Essex, where they have their own butchery and farm shop and are passionate about the welfare of their animals and quality of their products.
He said: “I am delighted to be elected as the new chair of the NFU Turkey Group. Our small sector needs to be represented and heard especially with the major challenges ahead, not only with avian influenza (AI) but also the increased energy costs and the availability of labour.”
A big thank you must go to outgoing chair Michael Bailey for more than 25 years of service to the NFU and the fantastic work he has been a part of. We would like to wish him well for the future.
Christmas 2022 reflections
For most members farm gate sales for Christmas 2022 were reasonable. However, there were some members with slower sales and a few that were left with a surplus at the end of the year.
Christmas 2021 had been an unusually good year with the Covid-19 lockdown and an increased number of people staying at home and having a more traditional Christmas.
For the most recent festive season, some members had concerns as to whether increased press coverage about avian influenza had unnerved consumers, causing them to go out earlier and buy a frozen turkey from the supermarket or perhaps choose a different joint of meat entirely.
“You need to keep speaking to your customers as you cannot afford to carry any spare stock because we all know a fresh turkey after Christmas Day is hardly worth anything. We have got to demonstrate good business acumen.”
Edward Calcott, Calcott Turkeys, Staffordshire
Edward Calcott, previous Poultry Industry Programme member and seasonal turkey producer at Calcott Turkeys, Staffordshire, said: “You have to be hot on your numbers for 2023 and only place what you know you can sell based on the year before.
"You need to keep speaking to your customers as you cannot afford to carry any spare stock because we all know a fresh turkey after Christmas Day is hardly worth anything. We have got to demonstrate good business acumen.”
#BuyMyTurkey campaign success
Grace Brown, NFU food business unit placement student, gave members an overview of the NFU’s 2022 #BuyMyTurkey campaign. The campaign featured across social media platforms on 2 December 2022 and reached more than 100,000 people. The key messages to the public this year were:
- to use the NFU Turkey Finder to find your local turkey producer;
- to ask your butcher if your turkey is British; and
- to look out for the Red Tractor logo if buying your turkey in the supermarket.
Regardless of where someone was buying their turkey, we also promoted the purchasing of a whole bird. Part of the key content for this year’s campaign was a cooking video that highlighted how buying a whole bird is better value for money, focusing on the cost-of-living crisis.
The video was viewed more than 6,500 times across the various social media channels and the NFU Turkey Finder was used by 2,500 people across England and Wales.
AI and labour updates
“If labour is a limiting factor to your business, then we need your case studies to submit to Defra. The submission can be anonymous, but we need to know the attempts you have made for recruiting people and if they have been successful or not.”
Michael Bailey, outgoing Turkey Group chair
Aimee Mahony, NFU chief poultry adviser, gave an update on AI and labour availability. She reported that AI has been unprecedented this year with no natural break over the summer period and, sadly, the disease has affected all different poultry species including turkeys, ducks and geese.
The NFU has four key asks on AI, including finding longer-term solutions such as AI vaccination, and it is continuing to lobby for effective solutions.
On access to labour, the 2,000 visas which have been confirmed by the government for the seasonal poultry sector until 2024 were welcomed but there was not enough time to fully utilise them, and some were not used because of the impact AI had on some farms.
Aimee encouraged members to submit case studies to the NFU on how they have successfully recruited or struggled with accessing the required labour needed on farm as this will help in our lobbying efforts and can be used in information-gathering exercises such as the ongoing independent labour review.
The outgoing Turkey Group Chair Michael Bailey said: “If labour is a limiting factor to your business, then we need your case studies to submit to Defra. The submission can be anonymous, but we need to know the attempts you have made for recruiting people and if they have been successful or not.”
Looking to 2023
Looking to 2023 there is a lot of uncertainty as to whether some seasonal producers will have to reduce production, or whether they will continue with production at all. Some have been affected by AI and the required secondary cleansing and disinfection measures mean they will not be able to open their sheds to produce turkeys for 2023.
Others are battling the rising energy costs that are making it incredibly hard to predict the costs of production and, on top of that, labour difficulties are making it an extremely challenging time for the sector.
Next meeting
The NFU thanks everyone who attended the meeting. A recording of the meeting was made and members are asked to email [email protected] if they would like a copy. New chair Jonathan Smith invites all seasonal poultry members to join the next meeting, which will take place virtually on Friday 10 March 2023.
If you are interested in joining the NFU Turkey Group, please contact [email protected]
