Chicken shortage

Big Eddy C

Member
Mixed Farmer
1.3 million foreign workers have returned home mix of brexit and covid.

Lorry drivers
Chicken catchers
Rubbish collection
This list is long.

Hard work that the majority think they are just too good to do.
My worry is that the Eastern Europeans have learnt the trade/chicken farming here, and have gone back home to build the units for a cheaper capital cost than here. Then we will end up importing from them as they will have lower costs than us, an experienced skillset and a damn good work ethic!
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
And that is where quite a few of them have been working . .

As I travel around the UK it has never ceased to amaze me how many non-indigenoues UK folk have got themselves into middle-management and higher positions.
I am not surprised, many of these coming over have good degrees but cannot earn the wages a manual labourer here can pick up in their now country. At one then we had doctors, nurses and teachers working on grading lines. However unification of qualifications saw them able to drop into very good jobs here once they had a reasonable knowledge of English
 
You may scoff but that is the dream of a far wiser man than the one who leaves school at 14, physically grafts like a slave for 40 years whilst living hand to mouth and is already a broken old wreck of a man by 35. We only get one shot at life, for those who spend it catching chickens its probably going to be a short and painful one.
Well I'm still cutting veg at 56 & no regrets. That I studied for A levels gives me a bit of confidence about the snobbery I sometimes encounter.
 
I am not surprised, many of these coming over have good degrees but cannot earn the wages a manual labourer here can pick up in their now country. At one then we had doctors, nurses and teachers working on grading lines. However unification of qualifications saw them able to drop into very good jobs here once they had a reasonable knowledge of English

On my annual spray course we were taught about Pulse modulation spraying systems by a Hungarian spray operator because my agronomist thought he was not experieced enougth to lecture about Pulse modulation tech.
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
ABP are sending flyers and have billboards up locally, trying to recruit . How many folks fancy working in an abattoir these days . Bound to start having an affect on getting cattle away . Brexit will have been the main factor, despite the fact some people refuse to believe it .
I reviewed a plant operating apprentice years ago, working on a rubbish tip, he was from Anglesey and used to work in an abattoir, it was a cold day in the winter when I reviewed him, I remember him saying on days like today I wish I was still in the abattoir as at least I had warm hands then!
 

Lincsman

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Its all good, while nandos etc cannot get supplies the power in price negotiations change side, shortages are a really good thing to get the price of stuff higher, along with "real" workers pay... £400/day bricky anyone?
 
You couldn't make this up. Razor sharp knife anyone?...............................
Remember when at college that the Yorkshire ripper was the most wanted man in the country.

Police were at an Abbotoir (we were visiting from college) finger printing everyone who worked there.
 

Vader

Member
Mixed Farmer
It's simple economics of supply & demand.

As soon as there are no Romanians to wash cars, the price rises (to attract staff) up to a point where people decide to wash their own cars, so a new equilibrium is found.

If KFC want the chickens on a JIT basis, they will have to pay what it costs or lose market share. In the short term, producers on a priced contract will get fisted by the processors.

Ultimately the consumer will pay, through inflation.
Car washes will keep going.
After all they not exactly there to make money from car washing now are they...
 

JeepJeep

Member
Trade
We were buying trays of Aldi Chicken Breasts weekly British all from 2 sisters Sandycroft just up the road.... An East European haven of employment.

Standard and Quality have rapidly gone downhill. We're now buying Turkey Steaks or a whole chicken.
 

D14

Member
Kfc and Nandos can't get enough chicken apparently, time they updated their menus with a bit of pork on there I think!

Know a guy who has a flock ready to go but its currently 2 weeks over due purely because of haulage issues. Its messing up his budgets because its 2 weeks extra food etc and put out the annual cycle of flocks because of the delays.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.1%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 67 35.3%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,294
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top