Poultry supplies across Ireland and the EU will “remain constrained” this year due to bird flu, according to Bord Bia.
Irish poultry supplies fell by around 1% in 2021, with just over 110 million birds being processed.
Similar to other sectors, higher feed costs had an impact on poultry producers, particularly in the second part of last year, but supplies also fell due to outbreaks of avian influenza.
Bord Bia’s recent meat marketing seminar heard that high feed costs are forecasted to continue for the first six months of 2022 and this will have an impact on supplies.
Bord Bia is predicting a 2-3% fall in Irish poultry supplies in the coming year.
However, tight global supplies will support a recovery in world trade as economies reopen.
Poultry
Peter Duggan, pigmeat and poultry manager with Bord Bia, outlined that the six recent confirmed cases of avian influenza in the Republic of Ireland affected all commercial poultry – turkey; broilers; layers; and ducks.
He noted that the cases were concentrated in counties Monaghan and Cavan where most of the country’s poultry production is focused.
He said that since October 1, 2021, there have been at least 580 confirmed cases of bird flu across Europe, with Italy accounting for half of the overall total.
The seminar heard that outbreaks of the disease had also been confirmed in Poland, Hungry, Germany and France.
Duggan said that Irish and EU poultry supplies will “remain constrained” for 2022 due to avian influenza risks.
He explained that the “avian influenza season” generally runs until the end of March.
Duggan outlined that Irish poultry exports have been badly impacted by the closure of the South African market; export values dropped by 15% last year and volume was down 32%.
He also noted reduced market demand from the UK linked to the closure of the food service industry due to Covid-19.
The Bord Bia manager predicted that there would definitely be more cases of bird flu across Europe and warned that there could be more here.
Duggan said that Ireland has been hampered by trade suspensions due to avian influenza: “The sooner we can recover from the disease the better so as many markets as possible can be reopened.”