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Hundreds of delegates and exhibitors battled their way through arctic conditions to attend the annual conference of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association.

The event went ahead despite the coldest start to winter on record. Large parts of the country were submerged under a blanket of snow and temperatures plunged to minus 20 degrees centigrade, but John Cessford, marketing manager of BOCM Pauls, who organised the conference on behalf of BFREPA, said he was delighted with the attendance. "When you consider what the conditions were like, the number of delegates and exhibitors who managed to get to the conference was very good," he said.

With large parts of Scotland and northern England, Wales, the eastern counties and the south east under snow, the number of delegates was down by about a third, and just five of the 55 exhibitors who booked space at this year’s event failed to arrive. "That was particularly good. The exhibitors were clearly keen to get there," said John.

Organisers will attempt to avoid the icy conditions next year. The conference has been brought forward by two weeks to November 17.

BFREPA members who did brave the snow and ice will have found something to cheer them up in a decision at the annual meeting – part of the annual conference – to avoid any increase in subscription rates this year. BFREPA chairman John Retson said there had been a suggestion to index link subscriptions in future but said it was not something he favoured. It could result in subscriptions that members could not afford. He said the BFREPA council felt that in the current difficult market conditions the best option was to hold subscriptions at their current rate this year.

Treasurer Mary Pipkin was one member who was unable to get to the conference because of the weather conditions. Her report was read out by Alison Bone, who said that membership of the association had increased by 19 per cent over the year. The number of members was now more than 500. John Retson said that BFREPA now represented more than 50 per cent of UK free range production. "We are still actively looking for new members to join our association to give us as strong a position as possible to negotiate legislation for our industry," he said in his chairman’s report.

"I have had a busy year establishing communication lines with all bodies involved with our industry," he said. "I have tried to represent your association to the best of my ability and using what time I have had available. We have been involved in many issues throughout the year." He said, "My first year as BFREPA chairman can be described as nothing other than challenging due to all the changes in the free range sector since last year’s AGM."

Alison Bone told members that the association had broken even over the year to May 2010 when money owed to BFREPA was taken into account. In the current financial year the association was at the moment in profit and on target to meet budget figures.
John Retson was re-elected for a second term as chairman of the association. Jeff Vergerson was returned to office as vice chairman and Mary Pipkin will continue for another year as treasurer. The BFREPA council was returned en bloc.

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