Robert Besser
05 Dec 2022, 23:09 GMT+10
LONDON, England: Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, said nearly half of all turkeys and geese in the UK have either died or been culled, due to the country's largest-ever outbreak of avian flu.
Griffiths told lawmakers from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee that British farmers usually produce 1.2 to 1.3 million free-range birds for the Christmas period, but stated, "We have seen around 600,000 of those free-range birds being directly affected."
Total turkey production for Christmas in the UK was usually about 8.5 to 9 million birds, but this year, just over one million have died or been culled, he added, stressing he did not know the subsequent effects on prices.
"That is really a question for retailers at this point. We do not know how the gaps within retail are going to be filled," he said, as quoted by Reuters.
The major supermarket groups have so far been relatively relaxed in their public statements about the availability of turkeys this coming Christmas.
In October, supermarket sector leader Tesco said it expects to satisfy demand for birds, while earlier this month rival Sainsbury's said it had ordered more turkeys for Christmas this year than last year.
Marks and Spencer, which sells one in four fresh turkeys in the UK for Christmas, said it had put in place plans to protect supplies.
However, poultry farmer Paul Kelly told the committee, "There will be a big, big shortage of free range British turkeys on the shelves this year. The biggest effect has been on the supermarkets."
Since the start of October, nearly 140 cases of bird flu have been discovered in the UK, with 1.6 million birds being culled, Griffiths said, noting that 36 percent of British poultry farms were now subject to avian flu controls, meaning that birds must be kept indoors.
"So it is huge and the costs for industry and food production are potentially enormous," he added, as reported by Reuters.
Get a daily dose of Nigeria Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Nigeria Sun.
More InformationTOKYO, Japan: In light of a tense security environment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Moscow's growing military cooperation with ...
DALLAS, Texas: Oil and gas pipeline operators are preparing to stockpile equipment following severe weather forecasts for the next few ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: As US lawmakers investigate the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok, its Chief Executive, Shou Zi Chew, has confirmed that ...
TEHRAN, Iran: A gunman this week stormed the Azerbaijan Embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and killed its security chief ...
WASHINGTON, DC - FBI agents on Wednesday searched for classified documents at U.S. President Joe Biden's vacation retreat in the ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The White House said this week that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk met with John Podesta, a Democratic ...
TRIPOLI, Libya: Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni held talks on energy and migration in Libya this weekend, which are major ...
Hank Lebioda piled up nine birdies to shoot an 8-under-par 63 and take the first-round lead at the ATT Pebble ...
juba, south sudan - The embassies of Britain, Norway, and the United States have expressed grave concerns about possible new ...
On the third day of his trip to Africa, Pope Francis told leaders of the Catholic Church in the Democratic ...
Blantyre, Malawi - Malawi has suspended the head of its Anti-Corruption Bureau over a leaked audio clip that where she ...
Patrick Mahomes didn't mince words on Thursday when asked about the importance of having two Black quarterbacks start a Super ...