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  • From: "marc" <marc AT aculink.net>
  • To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] USDA pastured poultry changes
  • Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 23:48:07 -0700

From Another newsgroup:

"Nobody's going to believe the following news story, but I've dug around a
little and it seems to be true.

-- Robert

Free-range farms will be forced to stamp every egg
By Robert Uhlig, Farming Correspondent
(Filed: 07/02/2003)


The future of hundreds of specialist free-range and organic egg producers is
under threat because the European Commission has ordained that, from next
year, every egg must be stamped with its home address.

Under the EU directive, farmers will have to buy inkjet printers to label
every egg with a raft of information, including details of the hen that laid
it.

Large operators will be able to absorb the expense of the printing
technology, but Peter Wood, who keeps 40,000 hens near Bristol, said the
prospect of the cost of the equipment was already driving smaller producers
out of business.

"I already know of a handful who have given up because they know they will
not be able to afford to implement what is a completely over the top
requirement," he said.

"Each hen typically makes a profit of only 50 pence across its lifetime.
Farmers with only hundreds or a few thousand hens will never be able to
afford the printers, which start at around £5,000 each." The regulation
threatens to put out of business those producers that consumers value most -
farmers with small free-range or organic flocks, often specialist, producing
eggs regarded to have more flavour than those from battery hens.

Since the salmonella scare, egg boxes have been required to carry
information on the producer and the freshness of the egg, as well as its
size and type.

But under the new directive, eggs will have to be stamped with the method of
production, the country of origin, the code for the producer-packer, a best
before date and, if the farmer is a member of the scheme, the British Lion
mark.

To add insult to injury, an official in Brussels recently told a delegation
of farmers from the south-west of England that the task of labelling the
eggs "would be a nice job for farmers' wives".

A spokesman for the National Farmers' Union South West said: "We understand
the need for consumers to know where their eggs come from and to be totally
confident about eating them but this is a step too far."


Robert Plamondon
36475 Norton Creek Rd, Blodgett OR 97326
robert AT plamondon.com
See our Free-Range Poultry Web Page at http://www.plamondon.com
"

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>
To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2003 8:43 PM
Subject: RE: [Market-farming] USDA pastured poultry changes


> Rick H. wrote:
> > You don't need to preach to me about involvement with farm
organizations.
> > With the proposed meat labeling laws I spent half of last week on
> > the phone
> > with grassroots groups calling from DC to Chicago.
>
> OK, I had thought maybe you might be interested in some help but it sounds
> like you have it well in hand yourself.
>
> Could you fill us in on the proposed meat labeling laws? Is this the COOL
> program and how it would impact at the farm level?
>
> Or is this something else?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Rick Williams
>
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>
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