A meeting about caged-eggs in Northern Ireland has attracted concerns over the level of debt in the sector.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union hosted the open meeting for Northern Ireland based producers and packers of enriched colony eggs.
The meeting attracted over 50 producers, all keen to give their views on the decision by the major retailers to end sourcing of enriched colony eggs by 2025.
The main concerns raised at the meeting surrounded current levels of debt in the sector.
The UK poultry industry has only recently completed a £400 million upgrade from battery cages to enriched colony systems.
Now with that investment made they face uncertainty, due to lack of clarity from retailers on what production system they want in the future.
After the meeting, the UFU said it would discuss with the British Egg Information Council (BEIC) how to ensure this change is managed carefully.
It will also seek further information from retailers, so that producers will have more clarity about what is happening.
The UFU will also be urging banks and government to ensure support is available to the sector as it deals with this major change of approach by retailers.
NFU poultry board chairman Duncan Priestner warned that the decision to end caged-eggs would not just impact those using enriched cages but would have a knock-on effect on the entire egg sector.
He warned against snap decisions that could leave poultry farmers out of pocket.
'Minimal disruption' to businesses
"This change will impact greatly across all egg production systems so it is absolutely imperative that we and our members have clarity over retailers’ future plans and have our concerns addressed as soon as possible," said Mr Priestner.
"Although 2025 is nine years away, time is of the essence to allow our producers to make the necessary changes, with minimal disruption to their businesses and to our customers – the British public - a market worth an estimated £895m.
"We have built good relations with the retailers – UK agriculture’s biggest customer - and will be looking to those relationships to secure much needed clarification and certainty for our members.
"UK retailers have a very good track record on sourcing UK egg and we look to that commitment continuing."
The NFU says producers need more details to be able to effectively plan and make the necessary changes to their businesses in the remaining nine-year timeframe up until 2025.
