Inside Britain’s Christmas turkey crisis as 3.5m birds culled due to ‘worst ever’ outbreak – sparking shortage fears
BRITAIN could face a Christmas turkey crisis as 3.5 million birds are culled due to "worst ever" outbreak of flu.
Shortage fears have been sparked after 155 turkey farms have recorded cases of avian flu in their birds.
The UK produces around 11 million turkeys annually - but a third of those have been put down this year.
Highly contagious, the virus has wiped out a huge supply in the run-up to the festivities with concerns of Christmas 2023 being affected too.
Expected to cause "holy carnage" James Mottershead, chairman of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), said the reality of the situation is severe.
He told : “If bird flu, for example, gets into turkeys that could cause holy carnage; that could cause real supply chain issues in the run-up to Christmas time.
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"The realities of it are quite severe.
"If you have an outbreak on your farm and your farm is classed as an infected premises, it is serious - you could be out of production up for up to 12 months."
Farmer Steve Childerhouse is being forced to cull an entire flock of 100,000 turkeys - which were set to be on dinner plates.
The 51-year-old Norfolk farmer said "people are getting absolutely hammered by this" and the Christmas market will be impacted.
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"It's going to have a massive impact on the Christmas market because they're just not going to be there," he added.
Steve said once their farm has been infected, it has to stay empty for 12 months.
He said: "As it stands with our farm, we won't be able to produce any poultry on our farm for next Christmas either."
Farming minister Mark Spencer said producers could apply for compensation.
He said: "Farmers and poultry producers are facing real pressures as a result of this avian flu outbreak, and we know many are concerned about the impact on their flocks.
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"We hope the practical solutions announced today will help provide greater financial certainty."
measures have today been announced which require all bird keepers to keep their flock indoors following the outbreak.
Currently in place in hotspots Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of Essex, they are expected to come into force in all areas of England on November 7.
As turkeys are due to fill supermarket shelves in the coming weeks, families are concerned their traditional dinner will go a miss this year.
Are you worried about giving your family a Christmas dinner this year?
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Or are you a restaurant owner concerned paying customers will be left disappointed?
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