South Devon: family farm faces closure after bird flu outbreak

Orchard Organic Farm in South Devon faces closure after the cull of all its hens due to a bird flu outbreak. Farm owner Jerry Saunders said that the insurance system put in place to compensate losses for bird flu is “not designed” for small, family-run businesses. Free-roaming birds, like those at his premise, are not covered by insurers because they spend time outdoors and are deemed more vulnerable to infection than their caged counterparts in intensive farms. According to Saunders, schemes for financial compensation are modelled on large conglomerates and small businesses get less than half of what they need to restock after an outbreak. Unable to pay the high costs of deep cleaning and repopulating their farm, Jerry and his wife Emma will have to shut down shop and look for other jobs. Moreover, Saunders had to pay the cost of incinerating over £7000 of eggs and £5000 of chicken feed also judged to be at risk of infection. He said the experience has opened his eyes to the lack of a safety net for small farms facing bird flu outbreaks.
James Mottershead, chair of the National Farming Union’s poultry board, warned about the damaging short and long-term impact of avian influenza on farming families. On his part, Gary Ford of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association called on the government to enforce country-wide housing orders to protect the free range and organic producers. He said there is a need for a “proactive approach” to tackle the spread of the disease. In January, a bird flu prevention zone was declared for the whole of Great Britain after a big jump in infections across the country, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of birds. Housing orders – preventing flocks from roaming freely – are also in place in 10 regions.