LONDON Nov. 30 (U.S.): Britons may struggle to get a free-range turkey or goose for the Christmas table this year after an industry boss said around half had either died or been culled by the country’s largest. ever outbreak of avian influenza.
Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, told lawmakers that British farmers typically produce 1.2 to 1.3 million wild birds over the festive period.
“We’ve seen about 600,000 of those free-range birds directly affected,” he said.
Giving evidence to Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Griffiths said the total production of Christmas turkeys in the UK is usually around 8.5 to 9 million birds. Of those, more than a million have died or been executed, according to Reuters.
He did not know what effect this would have on prices.
“That’s really a question for retailers at this point. We don’t know how the gaps within retail are going to be bridged,” he said.
So far, major supermarket groups have been relatively relaxed in their public statements about the availability of Christmas turkey.
Market leader Tesco said in October it expected to be able to meet demand, while Sainsbury’s said earlier this month it had ordered more turkeys for Christmas this year than last year, giving it a buffer in case the crisis held back. supplies.
Also, Marks & Spencer, which typically sells one in four fresh turkeys consumed in the UK at Christmas, said it had strong plans in place to protect supplies.
However, poultry farmer Paul Kelly told the committee, “There will be a significant and significant shortage of free-range British turkeys on the shelves this year,” noting that “the biggest impact has been on supermarkets.”
Griffiths said that since the start of October there have been nearly 140 cases of bird flu in the UK, with 1.6 million birds being culled.
He said 36% of poultry farms in the UK are now under bird flu controls, which means birds must be kept indoors.
EAE