Work is about to start on a study funded by the British Free Range Egg Producers’ Association (BFREPA) into second grade eggs.
Volunteer producers were expecting initial visits from the ADAS team that has been commissioned to carry out the research.
It is hoped that the study will identify ways of reducing wastage and improve income for producers by cutting the number of seconds. It is estimated that a reduction in seconds of just one per cent could improve income for a producer by 15 pence per bird.
Four members of BFREPA have been selected to take part in the study. They are located in Shropshire and the Welsh Marches and include Simon Powell, who has 32,000 layers on his farm near Shrewsbury.
Simon said anything that could be done to improve returns for free range egg producers was a good thing, and he hoped that the study may find ways of cutting down the number of second grade eggs. Simon’s birds are housed in a traditional flat deck system. His eggs go to Oaklands Farm Eggs, one of the biggest packers in the country.
ADAS is eventually hoping to study the whole chain, from the production unit to the packing station to see where improvements can be achieved. BFREPA believes that everyone in the egg supply chain will benefit if ways can be found to reduce the amount of money lost through the downgrading of eggs. Some of the country’s leading packers are helping to fund the research through a sponsorship programme established by BFREPA.
Sponsors who have provided funds include Noble Foods, Stonegate, L J Fairburn, Newquip, Potters, Hy-Line, Joice & Hill, Humphrey Feeds & Pullets, Country Fresh Pullets, Bumble Hole Foods, Oaklands, Chippindale, Lohmann, Farmlay, Eggsell and Bird Bros.
Simon Powell said that he did not have a particular problem with seconds at the moment, but he said problems could vary greatly from flock to flock – even when birds had been housed on the same units with the same management regime.
“It will be interesting if we see a cross-section of units in the study.” He said it would also be interesting to see whether the way eggs were transported to the packing station had an impact on numbers of seconds. “Hopefully they will come up with some ideas. Individuals will then be able to decide on what they do to improve things.”
Richard and Pauline Jones, who farm near Newtown, Powys, are also taking part in the study. Pauline said that the variation in the level of seconds could at times be “shocking,” even amongst eggs from the same shed.
The couple have 22,000 birds in flat deck units and send their eggs to Stonegate. “The last two flocks we have had serious seconds from 28 weeks to 38 weeks,” said Pauline. But she said there seemed no logic in the level of seconds sometimes. Levels could fluctuate from two or three per cent to six or seven per cent.
Pauline said they could send off three pallets of eggs from the same shed and the gradings would vary greatly between all three. “The variation can be shocking. It makes no sense,” said Pauline. “We grade hard on the farm but we have no control over the gradings we get back from the packer. We have to take the gradings we are given and it’s our income,” she said.
Pauline said it would be interesting to see what researchers would discover about the impact of transportation on the level of seconds. She said that some lorry drivers were better than others in handling eggs. Some drivers needed to know that eggs should be treated with respect because they were fragile.
BFREPA director of policy Robert Gooch has said that, once the study is complete, the association hopes to organise some seminars to discuss the best ways to make use of the results. There is a 60 pence-per-dozen price differential between first and second quality eggs.
ADAS said they hoped to initially go on farm when layers were 35 weeks old to look at the systems being used on the volunteers’ units, the equipment on the units and how the units were being managed.
The researchers will do test gradings and suggest ways in which practices can be improved to reduce the level of seconds.
They intend to return four weeks after an initial assessment to see whether the suggested changes have made any difference to results on each of the farms.
ADAS will also take a sample of 360 first quality packed eggs for assessment. This assessment will be carried out both visually and by hand-candling to identify the effectiveness of on-farm selection processes and to provide a reference point against which to compare the subsequent grading figures provided by the packing centre. A summary report will be prepared for each producer.
The research into reducing seconds could be the first in a growing body of research work that BFREA hopes to commission with the help of the new sponsorship programme. BFREPA is actively seeking others in the industry to support the scheme and hopes that the list of sponsors will grow so that the funds can be used to benefit everyone involved. It says that the response so far has been very good.
