“This is impossible”. That’s how powerful the technician in the UPA organization is. david erice Considering the imposition of profitable production with a maximum density of 11 kg/m² determined by the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), broilers and laying hens It is based on a “particularly limited” animal welfare mandate established by the European Commission. Concerning the poultry sector, some recommendations from the European board are creating concerns and fears about closures, significant price increases for consumers or curbing competitiveness relative to non-EU countries. A scientific opinion with “unprecedented” advice if applied in these circumstances, “It will result in the loss of most of the European poultry sector, both meat and egg production.”says the organization Asaja.
The European Commission’s comments “within the framework of the strategy farm on the table”. These documents provide a scientific basis to support the ongoing review of EU animal welfare legislation. The commission is expected to present a bill in the second half of 2023. Inside According to the latest data of the Ministry of Agriculture of Galicia, corresponding to 2021, While 874 farms are counted, there are close to 5,000 farms in Spain.. The community produces 217,000 tons of chicken meat per year, out of a total of 1.6 million tons at the state level.
Lowering the cabinet this much “causes no accounts”
The most impressive of the proposals, reducing the stocking density of conventional broilers to a maximum of 11 kg/m²According to Asaja, this means: the number of birds on farms will need to be reduced by 72%. “Still nothing has been fixed, but when the sound of the river comes, it’s what the water carries,” suspects the establishment’s technician, Arturo Hernangómez. In addition, having to lower the cabin so much at a time when production costs are skyrocketing “causes no calculations”.
Profitable production at a maximum density of 11 kg/m² is “impossible”, emphasizes David Erice, quantifying a lot of reductions by “one-third”. “Yeah, that’s it the price of the chicken will have to be multiplied by three to make up for it”, amount. He states that for a farm to be “minimally profitable” it must have 30,000 to 35,000 birds – “it has nothing to do with a macrofarm”, he notes – and such a drastic cut would be devastating to an activity that was right. now “in the open”. In fact, this is the amount of producing a kilogram of chicken that comes to about 3.5 euros at the point of sale,” he said.costs between 50 and 55 cents and farmers barely receive €0.40”.
“We will be dependent on countries like Brazil”
“We will not have enough supply for domestic or foreign trade. We will depend on countries like Brazilwho is the main producer and does not have to bow to the rules of the game imposed by the EU”, analyzes Hernangómez, if his fears are justified. It should be emphasized that EFSA’s view does not compare animal welfare practices on farms in the EU with those of third countries. And since there is no mechanism to prevent poultry imports from non-EU regions with lower standards, the result will be a further increase in imports. poultry meat imports from Ukraine, Brazil and Thailand; a current trend.
“Organic feed increased by 40% due to the increase in grains, egg packaging increased by 30%, fuel skyrocketed…which is so ugly in such a short time”
Asaja’s representative complains that the possible reduction of cavities adds to other recommendations, such as reducing antibiotic use, which they “want to gradually introduce.” “It is the accumulation of things that makes production impossible”, he complains. The main concern in egg production is the elimination of cages, “because poultry laying is done in cages, although most rearing systems are done in the ground.” Soon after, he recalls that to cope with rising electricity costs, farmers had to invest in significant solar panels to save money on their electricity bill, which would be the last straw in reducing their margins. “People are shaking,” he says.
In addition to drastically increasing the price of chickens to compensate for the reduction in livestock, the other theoretical solution would be to expand the surface of the farms so that farms do not lose their profitability. Not an easy solution in practice, because as Erice points out, any reformatting should be structural. “We will have to tear down walls and not everyone has a place. When it is older, it will also require significant economic investments in an activity that is currently running at a loss,” he says. “With rising costs—energy, feed, longs, etc.—a kilo of chicken costs between 50 and 55 cents, and they pay us 40 cents,” he exemplifies, “paying 3 or 3.5 at the point of sale.” euros,” he adds.
“Expanding the farm would be the solution if they allow it.”, Arturo Hernangómez explains in the same line, “but this cannot be done either because it is a royal decision that what the administration is doing is to limit production capacity”. “If you want to expand your farm, you need more environmental requirements, more certifications, more authorizations that depend on both the Government and autonomous communities, and ultimately that takes a long time and is very difficult to obtain.”
EFSA has published a scientific opinion on the welfare of farm pigs and five more on the welfare of animals in transit. Scientists conduct assessments covering the well-being of breeding calves, dairy cows and ducks, geese and quail.
“Feeds increased 40% last year, egg packaging 30%. This is bullshit”
The situation is even worse for traditional producers if, as Xosé María García, member of the Board of Labrego Galego Association (SLG), admits, rising costs and production, combined with tough and changing regulations, threaten the viability of the European poultry industry. ) and the owner of a small farm in San Sadurniño is responsible on his own to harmonize this business with others. “Living does not give, it is only complementary”.
Last year, “organic feed is up 40% due to an increase in grains, egg packs are up 30%, fuel prices have skyrocketed… which is outrageous in such a short time.” The prices of the product have also increased, but not to that extent. “If the price of a chicken or rooster increases by 30% or 40%, to whom would you sell it?“García wonders. “No increase in benefits, income or anything else.”
A very small production volume is processed in artisanal production, so the marketing chain is short. “We have to do almost everything ourselves,” he says. In fact, as detailed, in conventional poultry farming you can have a maximum of 50 broiler chickens and 50 layers, while the maximum allowed for chicken or rooster meat is 400 animals per year. “An activity that you have to complement with another activity. You can’t live with artisanal poultry alone because it has a very limited and complex market. Profitability is so low, you don’t even get a salary for a jokemust be completed with another activity. It does not give life. “The increase in costs over the past year and a half has been absurd,” sums up the owner of Quinta da Vacaloura farm in San Sadurniño.