Rising feed bills to hit shoots this year

GFA chairman Pam Kelsey confirmed the dramatic increase in feed and energy prices at the association’s annual general meeting, held on 8 February in Warwickshire, and said that the knock-on effect will affect the price of pheasant and partridge poults.

Mrs Kelsey commented: “The increase in the wheat price has been widely reported, but other ingredients, such as soya and fishmeal, have also gone up. Add to that the rise in energy costs — gas (used for heating brooder sheds) has increased by as much as 50 per cent and diesel (used for deliveries) has risen by 10 per cent or more — and it is easy to see that chick and poult prices will be appreciably higher this year.”

Mrs Kelsey would not speculate on ex-farm poult prices, however: “That is a matter for individual gamefarmers, not the GFA, but we are warning all shoots to expect considerably higher costs this year and to plan and price their shoot days accordingly.”

The rest of this article appears in 14 February issue of Shooting Times.

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