The Implications of The Welfare of Laying Hens Directive for the Egg Industry

Written evidence submitted by JR Clark and Sons (EGG 05)

My Company has been involved in the production, packaging and sale of hen eggs for over forty years. We are based in Bradford West Yorkshire and employ six people including myself. I have written various letters to Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg outlining the serious implications of the directive on my business and my employees with only the most basic of response. I recently had a meeting with my local MP Mr david Ward (Lib Dem) who took note of my concerns and has recently replied in writing. As things stand, on the 1/1/2012 I will have to cease egg production and make all of my workers redundant at my expense. This is something that I do not want to do.

We have managed to make a reasonable living from egg production even during some very tough economic circumstances. The reason we survive is because we try and keep our overheads low. For us to convert all our existing buildings to comply with the new regulations would cost us between £250k and £300k which is money that we simply do not have, unless we were to approach our bank who would ask for our home as security. This for us would mean a huge loan, which in my mid 50's., I simply do not want to do.

In my previous correspondence I have outlined the gross unfairness of the Grant Aid being given to the devolved regions ie Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For their farmers to receive up to 50% Grant Aid for their new poultry units and for England to get nothing is ridiculous to say the least. How, as a small producer are we supposed to compete with such an unfair advantage? I personally am not asking for a handout but my view is that when the mining industry was deemed to be uneconomic the miners received payment for the loss of their jobs. When the trawler men were told to scrap their boats they received compensation for loss of their business and jobs.

We as farmers are as important in our own right. In my Locality there are five other family owned farms that employ between five to ten people each. All these people will lose their jobs next year if the new legislation is implemented. The committee might say "you have had twelve years to carry out the conversion to colony enriched cages", my reply to that would be that the labour government during 2003/4 said that a review of the Legislation and its impact would report in 2005/6. We as an Industry expected that because of the severe capital cost of compliance that we would get five more years to comply, ie January 2017. It was even suggested that the cage ban might not even happen. The review was not actually published until 2008, which was two years late. Because of this uncertainty not many farmers carried out any conversion work and as a result a large percentage of birds are still in conventional cages. Other EEC countries such as France, Spain and Poland have reported that they will still have up to 50% of their birds in conventional cages by January 2012. How will these eggs be tracked and traded? And, if they are made illegal the market will be left short of eggs and prices will rocket.

In conclusion I would like to state that we are a small family owned business that has operated successfully for over forty years and across three generations. We live in and employ local people from what is a socially and economically deprived area. If we have to make our workers redundant, it is unlikely that they will find employment in the current economic climate. I personally do not want Grant Aid because I believe this creates an oversupplied and distorted market which is what we have at present. It has been reported that there is a greater concentration of egg farms in Wales than in any other area in Europe because of the financial incentives given to that region. What I would like is either compensation for the loss of my business or access to the Government loan guarantee scheme which, if still available, guarantees up to 75% of the money borrowed.

I hope my submission will help the committee with some background information and if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me as I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further,

February 2011