Have you ever considered volunteering with Citizens Advice?

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14 June 2022

Citizens Advice Volunteer Advisers come from different backgrounds, are different ages and have varied life experiences. They all have one thing in common: they want to help their local community

There has never been a more important time to volunteer. Many people in the community are facing hardship from the cost of living crisis – and they need urgent help. Citizens Advice has seen a sharp increase in those needing help. Many local people are struggling to pay the bills and are having to make a choice between paying for food or energy. Over the last three months Citizens Advice has seen a 28 per cent increase in utilities issues and a 26 per cent increase in debt issues. There is help out there through good advice and access to a range of grants and other support.

Citizens Advice needs additional volunteers to meet this demand. The only qualifications we ask for are that you are a good listener, IT literate and have a passion for wanting to help others. You may not think that you have transferable skills but you will be surprised!

We will provide all the training materials you need to get started and you will have a dedicated trainer who will help guide you through the whole process.Elaine Morley, Advice Services Manager for North Dorset Citizens Advice commented:

“We are an important part of our local community. Last year Citizens Advice Central Dorset helped 7,468 people with 22,518 issues. None of this would have been possible without our dedicated volunteers”.

If you feel that you want to do something positive for your community in the North Dorset and Sherborne area, and would like to know more, please email Elaine on [email protected] (North Dorset) or Diana [email protected] (Sherborne) or visit our website centraldorsetca.org.uk. Start making a difference today.

Sheelagh’s story:
“I started volunteering at my local Citizens Advice office almost seven years ago. I had enjoyed 20 years of headship at Kingdown School in Warminster and 5 more years as a consultant Head, but was not yet quite ready to retire fully from work, so wanted an opportunity to keep my brain active and give something back.
When the training began, I spent several weeks (one half day in training sessions and some time doing homework) learning about the benefit system, managing debt, housing, consumer problems and lots of other information, much of which I knew nothing about. I was able to listen into the telephone advice line and sit in on client meetings with experienced advisers. Everyone in the office was kind and helpful and the supervisor and manager were wonderfully patient. Seven years on, I am still enjoying my time advising, and see clients face to face as well, at drop-in sessions and booked appointments. Come and join our friendly and hard-working team for a rewarding volunteer position!”

Meet the speckled bush-cricket

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Editorial team

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14 June 2022

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Climate change and pesticides mean wildlife in our gardens is disappearing – writer Jane Adams urges us to look for an oddly cute vegan who won’t dance

What’s bright green, spotty and loves a bramble bush? The speckled bush-cricket thrives in shrubs and grasses in hedgerows and woodland edges. Perched motionless during the day, look for speckled bush-crickets at dusk and in the evening on shrubs and in tall vegetation. You’ll need to search as they are excellently camouflaged. Image is the nymph stage of the speckled bush-cricket – Image: Jane Adams

As I stand in the middle of a flowerbed in my Dorset garden, I’m surrounded by insects. Worker bumblebees scurry in circles over flower heads, a small-white butterfly floats by like a paper plane, and an armoury of shieldbugs patrol the jungle of shrubs. It’s an idyllic June day. The sort you dream of in the depths of winter when you’re cold and tired. But there’s one insect that’s nowhere to be seen. The speckled bush-cricket.
Eventually, long antennae dangling in mid-air give its position away. As I follow the looped tendrils, they lead me to its speckled body, camouflaged against the leaves of a Michaelmas daisy. It’s tiny. A nymph, less than a centimetre long. As it turns its Jiminy Cricket face towards me, I swear it’s going to break into a song and dance routine.

The nymph stage of the speckled bush-cricket, with the moulted skin below the leaf.
Image: Jane Adams

Sadly, it doesn’t. Instead, as I move, its compound eyes follow me, and I’m left wondering just who is watching who. Most of the 23 cricket species we have in the UK are omnivores, but the speckled bush-cricket is strictly vegan. By gorging on young leaves, it will outgrow its skin and moult several times
until it reaches the two to three centimetres of adulthood. If the one I have found is a male, it will eventually
sing to find a mate by strumming the underside of its left forewing with its right forewing – but we won’t hear it.

The frequency of its clicking song, and its mates’ reply, are way beyond the limits of our human hearing. Crickets like the heat, so at the moment most species in Dorset don’t seem to be threatened by climate change. However, with so many insects disappearing from our gardens, there’s still a chance they could be next. So, it’s worth taking care of them – turn a blind eye to a bit of plant nibbling and steer clear of pesticides. Maybe then we’ll see this harmless and beguiling insect again next year.

by Jane Adams

Dorset Tractor Run returns on Father’s Day

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Editorial team

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14 June 2022

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The Dorchester Agricultural Society has announced the return of the Dorset Tractor Run for 2022 on Father’s Day, Sunday 19th June.

The tractor run first took place in 2019, with 99 tractors taking part in the 18-mile route and raising money for First Point Dorset.
Nicki Ralph, Chair of Dorchester Agricultural Society said, “the 2019 tractor run was such a success, we are thrilled to announce its return. It’s a marvellous way for the public to admire the long history of our local agricultural community and view vintage tractors as well as modern machinery.”
This year’s nominated charities are the Farming Community Network and the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.
This year’s tractor run will start and finish at Daggers Gate Grain Store in West Lulworth. Event organisers are expecting more than 100 participants for the event, and spectators are welcome to join at the meeting point at 10am to watch the tractors begin their journey along the Jurassic Coast. Refreshments will be available for spectators to enjoy and a location for lunch will be advised on the day.

Those interested in participating this year can register online here . Tickets are available at £15 per tractor, per driver.

Law firm lands historic country estate client

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Editorial team

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14 June 2022

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Expanding law firm Blanchards Bailey is celebrating the arrival of a new client in the shape of the historic Stock Gaylard Estate in the heart of Dorset’s Blackmore Vale.The award-winning firm’s Legal 500 ranked agricultural and estates department has won the opportunity to undertake the estate’s legal work.

Stock Gaylard Estate is a small traditional country estate nestled in a mixture of oak woodland and green pastures around four miles from Sturminster Newton and eight miles from Sherborne.
The estate is approximately 1,800 acres with around 300 acres of predominantly oak woodland, 80 acres of common land and an enclosed 80-acre deer park with a small lake.
Over the last couple of hundred years the estate has been used for country sports in an unspoilt environment that also encompasses modern dairy farming and a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Run by the Langmead family, the estate is the latest farming operation to have moved its legal matters to Blandford-based Blanchards Bailey, headed by Managing Partner Paul Dunlop.
He said: “We are humbled and excited to assist such a wonderful family estate, steeped in so much history – the village is mentioned as existing in 1086 and the house is a Grade II* Listed Georgian building – but very much moving with the times today.
“It is a very exciting era for the Langmead family as they diversify the estate, boosting cashflow to assist in keeping the property exactly how it should be and preserving it for future generations.”
Stock Gaylard Estate Property and Event Manager Jack Langmead said: “We are very much looking forward to having a working relationship with Paul and the team at Blanchards Bailey.
“The firm’s expertise in rural matters, their personal approach and local understanding is exactly what we need to help us maintain and diversify the farm and land of which we are custodians.
“With a growing portfolio of ideas and possible ventures in the pipeline for us, Blanchards Bailey is the perfect fit to keep us sailing in the right direction.”

For all legal enquiries contact Blanchards Bailey on 01258 459361 or visit blanchardsbailey.co.uk

A reflection on Dorset’s art festival

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Editorial team

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14 June 2022

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Edwina visited many of the 250 venues of Dorset Art Weeks and shares personal highlights of her tour around the artistic side of the county

Heather Macgregor in front of Misty Stour (left) and Summer River Image: Edwina Baines

What better time of year could there have been for exploring the Dorset countryside while seeking out
the abundant artistic talent? With 250-plus venues and more than 500 artists taking part in Dorset Art
Weeks (DAW), there were some stand-out artists among the studios, galleries and exhibitions.

Heather MacGregor
I started my exploration in the hills above Durweston, in the stables at Traveller’s Rest Farm (home of BV farming columnist George Hosford) where Heather MacGregor was exhibiting her oil paintings with David Norton and Judy Baker. Heather says: “I paint what I see and how I feel about it. The work aims to give more than an initial visual impact. Principally I make studies in the field which I work up into paintings in the studio. When I am painting, I am conscious of walking on a tightrope. The challenge is in creating an engaging sense of place without slipping into the obvious or the obscure.” She responds with a glorious
exuberance to her subject matter. She is pictured above with two of her works: Misty Stour and Summer River.

A school exhibition
Down the hill into Durweston and to the new Bryanston Knighton House where, alongside that of their tutors, pupils’ work across all the age ranges was on display. One could not help but be impressed by their accomplishments and the variety of media to which they had been introduced. See image below – one little visitor found much to absorb her!

Absorbed in the Bryanston Knighton House Gallery
Image: Edwina Baines

Georgina Wood
In the centre of Blandford, Georgina Wood’s charming house was full of her sensitive paintings, prints and mixed media images. The classic India ink shapes and muted colour palette of various vessels was reminiscent of the work of Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, whose paintings were noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting apparently simple subjects. A few streets away was Rachel Baynes’s pretty, productive garden and exhibition All Kinds of Inks. A wide range of differing methods and media were on display, from collagraph prints to Japanese woodcuts, linocuts and inks. Rachel explained that a collagraph print is made by glueing different materials to cardboard and creating a kind of collage. During the inking process the ink will rub off the surfaces that are smooth or higher and stay on surfaces that hold more ink, for example at
the edges and at lower points, thus creating the image. The results were striking.

Georgina Wood with her collection of vessels in classic India ink shapes and muted colour palette. Image: Edwina Baines

Mark Harris
A drive through the Clenston Valley then led me to Mark Harris’s Gallery in The Old Engine Shed in the beautiful village of Briantspuddle, which is worth visiting as an artwork in its own right. In 1914, the small settlement was sold to Sir Ernest Debenham, grandson of the founder of Debenham’s department store,
who expanded the village to house those working on his self- sufficient farm. Many houses are built from hand-made concrete blocks in the Arts and Crafts style. The listed Bladen Valley is an example of a model estate and well worth a visit, especially the First World War memorial Madonna and Child, whch was sculpted by Eric Gill. Interestingly, the original purpose of the Old Engine Shed was to house Ernest Debenham’s vehicles!
Mark showed me an old photograph of the cars lined up outside the building, now converted into housing, bed and breakfast accommodation and a studio.
The walls of the latter are lined with his striking canvases. Mark gains his inspiration from the surrounding countryside and coastline. Initial marks are made in pastel and charcoal before blocks of acrylic paint are layered, then further pastels and Indian inks are added. Mark started his career as a pastry chef, although he found time to paint throughout that time; it was his sister who actually went to art school! Now a full- time professional artist, during lockdown Mark was unable to purchase large canvases (“I’m obsessed with trees and I love big rolling fields”) which resulted in wonderful triptychs which work extremely well, even in small spaces.

Mark Harris in his studio, with ‘Gully Lane’ (left) and ‘Glorious Dorset’ (triptych) right
Image: Edwina Baines

Digital tools
In his studio, I was curious about a seemingly incongruous painting of a giraffe – it transpired it was part of a design commissioned for a range of labels for a very expensive single malt whisky! Indeed, the image has to reflect not only the taste, but also the flavour and aroma of the whisky, and Mark uses the Brushes app on his iPad to transfer and modify the digital image. He occasionally uses the app when he gets stuck on an image; he finds that by copying and digitising an image, he can experiment by flipping or using different colours. He can therefore make several versions of the same picture. “However, you have to be careful
you don’t get overly distracted!”

Rachel Baynes Woodcutting paraphernalia
Image: Edwina Baines

To Dorchester
Another day took me to Poundbury, Dorchester and a wealth of venues and talent. Top of my list was the
Casterbridge Art Society’s broad- ranging exhibition It’s Up to Us, showcasing the concept of sustainability. Paintings, sculpture, photography, calligraphy, woodwork, textiles and work from pupils at Damers First School were on display.
The exhibition in Queen Mother Square was held in the newly refurbished Jubilee Hall, which incorporates structural elements of The Royal Jubilee Hall from Weymouth. The historic cast iron columns and brackets were recovered and incorporated in the new building alongside the old stone hearth found in a Portland quarry.
I ended up close to home in the converted cowsheds at Gold Hill Organic Farm, in the studios of Rachel Sargent and Emsie Sharp. Rachel’s evocative paintings and prints are full of light, shadows and the elements which chart her walks along local footpaths and the coastline. She is pictured below with the Victorian etching press (her popular workshops will be running again in the autumn). Emsie makes unique and colourful handblown glass, and I will be writing more about her exciting techniques next month.

Rachel Sargent with her Victorian Etching press
Image: Edwina Baines

by Edwina Baines [email protected]

Walks and card games in Durweston, supercars, and Tom Robinson 72 and still rocking!

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Laura

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13 June 2022

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The first episode of June’s BV podcast is out now – just click the play button to listen. We’re excited that it includes the full interview with Tom Robinson (we could only put highlights in the magazine, and he was SO interesting as he chatted about touring at 70, the brilliance of the modern music industry, twenty years of introducing new artists on the BBC… and his accidental career as a campaigner) – ahead of his show at Sturminster Newton’s The Exchange.
if you’ve not had a chance to click through the June issue yet, then why not just listen to the first episode?

In this first of June’s episodes:

The Letter from the Editor, Laura Hitchcock
Walks and card games in Durweston are helping one family settle in Adrian and Marie Fisher in Durweston have welcomed three generations of one Ukrainian family. Adrian shares how they are settling into life in Dorset
North Dorset offers a welcome A local committee has been quietly working to help settle refugees – one family at a time – from all parts of the globe, reports Rachael Rowe
Local teenager’s event attracts 120 supercars worth £120,000 to £1.2m! A student from Clayesmore School has surprised and captivated supercar owners with his creative meet-ups. Rachael Rowe reports
Tom Robinson – 72, and still got it Tom Robinson, songwriter and broadcaster, will be at The Exchange later this month, performiing his full set on his way to Glastonbury. The Podcast includes the full interview as Laura Hitchcock spoke to him about his 50-year career as a musician, as a broadcaster and as an activist.
Internationally bestselling author Natasha Solomons takes on the Random 19 questions Natasha Solomons is the author of five novels, including Mr Rosenblum’s List (set in Dorset) and The Novel in the Viola, which was chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club. Her latest book, I, Mona Lisa, is just out in paperback
A greener goodbye In a remote barn in Dorset, with pigeons and podcasts for company, Sophia Campbell is quietly revolutionising funerals with her reusable coffins and environmentally-friendly farewells, Tracie Beardsley reports

Meet Gillingham’s new Space Inflaters

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Editorial team

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13 June 2022

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Alan Waistell is Director of Leisure, working on behalf of Gillingham Community Leisure Trust (GCLT). This month he spoke to Courtenay Hitchcock about what’s happening with their new Space Inflaters venue

The old Legends Nightclub looks very different inside now, as the Trust waits for the inflatables to arrive from China

If you prefer to listen, you can hear the full interview hear:

Or you can read below the interview that featured in the June issue of the BV:

How did the project start?
“About 12 months ago – it was born out of Gillingham’s Riversmeet Leisure Centre. Like the rest of the leisure industry, we suffered during covid and we had to seriously re-think our direction. We knew that inflatable fun is always popular, and worked out the old Legends Nightclub building was standing empty. We spoke to Dextra, the property owners, about developing it; we wanted something new and different for children and adults in Gillingham.”

How have things progressed?
“It’s like any crazy idea – it grows with a life of its own! We started last July, and the Trust talked through what was affordable, and what was needed from stakeholders. Work actually started in September 2021, and today we’re 90 per cent complete inside (see image above).
The only concern is the inflatable units are coming from China – no one makes them in this country. In an ideal world we’ll open on Sat 23rd July – but we’re just waiting for those inflatables. Right now we’re teetering on a ‘when will it arrive’ tightrope!”

Where did the funding come from?
“The building, the inflatables and the new areas were all financed by stakeholders; big business individuals within the Gillingham area. GCLT have taken responsibility for the day-to-day management.

What will the venue offer?
“Well obviously there’s a HUGE inflatable unit! Plus an interactive wall, and lots of other areas to play with. There’ll be a 2.5 metre ‘death drop’ where you fall into a black hole (that will be closely managed by staff, obviously!), and an under three’s and disabled interactive play area. We’ve also got a café bar – fresh pizzas, jacket potatoes, and themed food for adults and kids.”

Do you know your planned opening hours yet?
“9.30-7pm Mon-Fri, and weekends 9am-5pm. The plan is for it NOT to become a private party venue. It’s a community resource, and we need it open all hours, so that all families can come at any time. We really want it to be inclusive for all family types as much as possible.”

Do you know entry prices yet?
“We’ll have peak and off peak rates: everything’s still being finalised, but currently off-peak will be Mon-Fri 9am-4pm, and Peak will be 4-7pm weekdays, and weekends 9am-5pm.
At the moment, the entry (including supervising adults) will be £5 per person. Entry for the under three’s play area only will be £3.50 for a 90 minute slot.”

How will it help the community?
“It’s not a profit-making private business. It’s the same community business model as Riversmeet. Our accounts, any surplus we make, will be going straight back to the Gillingham community, to the local people. It will of course be entirely transparent. We can help local user groups, and assist in preserving Riversmeet going forwards.”

Will there be inclusive access?
“Absolutely – the entire business plan revolves around inclusion. We’re trying to look at every single user group that may wish to come. There’ll be a carer’s package, one for childminders, disabled and low-income family sessions will be discounted during the week … We’re trying to cater for as many as we can.”

And the five year plan?
“In an ideal world we’ll be wildly successful, and then open other activities for adults and children in the Gillingham area. Our whole purpose is to help the local community. The town will clearly be growing considerably in the next few years, and we should be looking at all our leisure facilities, ensuring we’re self-sufficient and not a burden on the tax payer (not that Riversmeet gets assistance!). It’s about how we run the whole leisure side of Gillingham to serve the needs of the local people.”

Why all small businesses should consider entering awards in 2022

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Editorial team

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13 June 2022

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Love Local, Trust Local Awards founder Barabara Cossins shares her own bashful relationship with entering for awards – and explains why everyone should do it

Barabara’s Kitchen winner of the Jams, Chutneys & Honey Category – Love Local Trust Local Awards

Back in November 2013 I needed to embrace social media. I met Becky Walsh, a marketing consultant who had just moved into the village, and she badgered me to promote the pub and butchery online, to tell everyone about the great story of our local food and drinks.
One of the things she kept on (and on …) about was entering awards. She made me enter competition after competition, and although I was reluctant I knew we had to do it. Previously I hadn’t wanted to put myself out there but if you want people to support you, then they have to know who you are, how good your business is and what it is you are doing that makes you different.
These days I know only too well that the business needs a face – both for the owner and the full team behind them. After trading for 30 years we have probably won more than 20 awards and have another 20 runners up plaques. Every single one of those has made us feel proud of the effort we put in to get there. Awards justify our hard work and give the business and the team behind it, the recognition they deserve.

Turning the tables
Now we’re the ones running the Love Local Trust Local (LLTL) Awards for local businesses here in Dorset,and it’s our turn to say “Well done, you are fabulous!” and for those businesses in turn to go out and make the most of this recognition.
There are 15 categories to choose from in 2022 so if you’re a business that is growing, producing, rearing, brewing, crafting or cooking here in Dorset, and you source your ingredients within 30 miles of your home base then you should be entering. There are a few changes & tweaks from last year, all strongly supported by the Love Local Trust Local sponsorship team, and we are very pleased to have the brand new categories of Farm Shops and Hospitality on the categories list.

Enter now
Awards are open now and FREE to enter. Remember, if you don’t tell other people about the amazing things you’re doing they won’t know. Put yourself out there! You can enter one product in each category, or multiple products into a single category, it’s totally up to you.
Here’s what one of our fabulous Winners of the LLTL had to say about her award:
“Being a micro producer, winning this award was a great achievement and has given me greater presence in the marketplace.” Barbara, Founder, Barbara’s Kitchen, 2020 LLTL Winner
The LLTL awards are fast becoming the food & farming family to be part of. They recognise the hard work and dedication of the people behind the food on our plates as they work hard to put Dorset producers on the map.
The Love Local Trust Local movement was created by farmers in 2018 in order to both recognise and celebrate the hard work of other farmers and also local producers & fishermen. The annual awards are a great way to help do just that. Love Local Trust Local is also tackling corruption in the food labelling industry, and helping to protect Britain’s world-leading food production standards.

To find out more, visit lovelocaltrustlocalawards.co.uk or call us for a friendly chat on 07831 184920.

Sponsored by Blanchards Bailey – Law for Life

Pigs, then chickens – who’s next? | Farm Tales

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Editorial team

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13 June 2022

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As the pig crisis is ignored, the poultry crisis deepens and the supermarkets refuse to budge – Andrew Livingston fears a difficult future for farming

You don’t have to be a fortune teller, clairvoyant or medium to know that things aren’t looking good for the future of farmers. The signs have been pretty obvious over the last year that certain sectors in agriculture are on a downward spiral.
Late last year (BV, Nov 21) I wrote of the serious issues in the pig industry that had led to farmers protesting about the lack of action from the government. Farms went out of business. It was a dire situation. Yet to this day, pigs are still sitting on farms waiting to be killed and butchered – the NFU stated in March that 40,000 pigs had to be culled and ‘thrown away’ because of a lack of butchers to process them. The additional seasonal workers sent over did little to save the situation. The meat processing industry says there is a shortage of about 10,000 butchers.
The diverse nature of farming means that agricultural managers and farmers in other sectors can sit back and say, “Not my problem.” But it’s the wrong attitude. Sticking your head in the expensive grain isn’t helping.

A lesson in history
Farmers can look to history for guidance – and surprisingly to Nazi Germany (stay with me on this). A famous poem from German Pastor Martin Niemöller explains why silence is as bad as being complicit:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

40p a dozen
As with the socialists, the crisis in the pig industry continues (without headlines), but it is the egg industry’s head that currently rests on the chopping block. Supermarkets are adamant that they will not pay more for the eggs on the shelves as they believe their consumers won’t either.
The industry met at the annual Pig & Poultry Fair in Stoneleigh last month and the British Free Range Egg Producers Association invited representatives from eight of the major retailers for a crisis summit.
Not only did none of the retailers attend, only Tescos and Morrisons even bothered to reply and engage in conversation. Free range farmers are asking for 40 pence a dozen extra – just to be able to survive. Supermarkets argue that shoppers won’t want to pay 40p extra for their eggs, while market research from the egg industry disputes this.
But retailers will soon have to pay more than 40 pence extra. Farms ordering new pullets since the war in Ukraine are already downscaling, and some are simply not bothering to place birds at all due to the costs.

The shopper will pay
As fewer birds are placed now, fewer eggs will be in the market in the future. Bird flu last winter wiped out hundreds of thousands of hens in the UK, meaning that egg numbers are already low.
Eventually, the number of eggs in production will be so low that supermarkets could be embroiled in bidding wars for anything to sell on their shelves – and will naturally pass the additional cost to the consumers.
I can’t see the future, but as an employee in poultry, I can see the worrying signs of what’s to come for the egg industry. Once we have all packed it in … you have to ask yourself who is next?

by Andrew Livingston

Sponsored by Trethowans. Law. As it should be