Picture: Olivia Potter (right) with farm manager Jayne Crowley
As hefty increases in the price of feed starts to bite for puller rearers as well as egg producers, at least one rearer is finding it tough going when it comes to recovering from the marketplace the extra cost of producing a pullet.
Olivia Potter, a BFREPA council member and director of Potters Poultry who specialise in rearing pullets for free range, said her company had lost orders from producers who were not prepared to pay the extra cost now required if standards are to be maintained.
“Since the beginning of last year the cost of rearing a pullet has risen by around 15p,” said Olivia, “but it is proving extremely difficult to pass that increase on to customers.”
And while the rising price of feed—in the order of £30 a ton according to Olivia—is having the biggest impact on pullet rearing costs, the cost of vaccines has also increased.
“As a company this has hit us particularly hard because our current programme now includes up to five extra vaccines,” explained Olivia, who said that their comprehensive vaccination programme was designed to ensure customers’ flocks did not suffer from post-peak drops and egg quality problems later on in lay.
“Nobody wants to lose business but on the other hand we don’t want to start rearing pullets to a price by cutting corners,” said Olivia, who, as an egg producer herself, can understand the pressures on her customers.
“We’ve got 45,000 birds ourselves on alternative systems so I know the impact that feed costs are having. Pullet rearers are facing the same challenges but without the benefit of an egg price increase!”
