Following a successful pilot scheme in summer, the Game Farm Audit is to be rolled out nationally from January 1 2020.
The new audit and Game Farm Standards have been written based on the current code that Defra produced, specifically relating to game birds used for sporting purposes.
Following the pilot scheme conducted in summer 2019 and feedback from the relevant organisations, the code recommends good practice from a health and welfare perspective.
The British Game Alliance (BGA) have added specific recommendations to update the code to reflect the current issues that the industry faces, including stocking densities and Mycoplasma Testing.
The audit investigates all aspects of game farming and is divided into three sections; laying, hatching and rearing.
This will demonstrate to retailers and food businesses that BGA assured game is sourced from enterprises that carry out best practice and achieve the highest welfare standards throughout the supply chain.
The annual audits will be operated independently by Acoura, who also audit the BGA member shoots, visiting participating game farms including hatcheries and laying flocks from January 2020.
The audit process demonstrates to the public, opponents and the wider sector that the industry is accountable to the code of practice that has been recommended by Defra – which until now, has been hard to prove with the absence of an approved audit process in place.
For BGA shoots who rear their own gamebirds with less than 10,000 head of game will not need to sign up for a game farm audit.
If a shoot rears over 10,000, they will be considered as a game farm and are encouraged to undertake the audit.
It is the aim that BGA audited game farms will make a premium on their stock due to the quality assurance and transparency demonstrated.
Dominic Boulton, Chairman of Game Farmer’s Association (GFA), said: “We encourage all game rearers (whether GFA members or not) to participate in the audit and demonstrate their commitment to all that it stands for.
“Against the backdrop of mounting political and anti-shooting pressure this scheme represents a huge opportunity to protect our livelihoods and be proud of our businesses.”
Liam Bell, Chairman of the National Game Keeper’s Organisation (NGO) said: “The NGO supports measures to improve confidence and traceability in game farms.
“Measures which may ultimately help reduce our antibiotic use further and help eradicate some of our more common hereditary game bird diseases.”
The BGA has also announced through its soon to be launched ‘Health Plan Service’, the availability of the first ever validated blood test for Mycoplasma in Game Birds.
Mycoplasma Gallisepticum is commonly known as “bulgy eye” or “swollen head” and is becoming a more common disease in the UK game bird population, affecting flying performance.
Developed by SciTech Laboratories and the British Game Alliance in conjunction with St David’s Gamebird Services, Mycoplasma Testing can be used to identify disease in new season poults as well as breeding stock collected from shoots at the end of the season.
