Confusion over new roughage rule

Organic egg producers face having to supply their birds with constant roughage under a new EU proposal.

The suggestion is that fresh or dried vegetables will have to be made available at all times inside sheds in a bid to reduce the threat of pecking.

The proposed move has been revealed in consultation documents. At present roughage occurs in the EU organic regulations (Annex 1, part B, 4.11) in a sentence which says “Roughage, fresh or dried fodder or silage must be added to the daily ration for pigs and poultry”.

This has always been regarded as being covered by ingredients in the feed. But now officials have proposed changing the wording so that it will read “roughage, fresh or dried vegetables or silage must be available at all times for pigs and poultry.”

British officials are interpreting this as meaning that roughage will have to be supplied separately from feed. Access to pasture during daylight hours will not suffice.

It means that producers would either have to introduce a completely new set of feeders to hold dried vegetables or hang up fresh cabbages, kale or something similar.

The move, which has come out of the blue for organic certification bodies, is believed to follow a report which suggested that roughage had a key role to play in the prevention of pecking. Although individual producers have used fresh vegetables as a distraction when hit by severe pecking problems there is no record of research in Britain which has identified roughage as being a critical factor in suppressing pecking. The new Defra booklet on pecking makes no reference to roughage.

Concern has already been expressed to Defra officials by the organic body OF&G and by BFREPA. Vice-chairman John Widdowson commented: “Although small scale producers might find no difficulty in stringing up a cabbage or two in a shed, when it comes to producers with three thousand bird flocks the implications are serious. There would also need to be regulations about how much roughage would need to be provided for every, say, hundred birds otherwise the ruling would be meaningless.”

BFREPA council member and Soil Association producer Giles Greenhough told the Ranger he has previously tried feeding vegetables to alleviate a pecking problem but it made no difference whatsoever. EU officials are planning further talks on the issue.