Welfare of Laying Hens Directive: The whole of the British egg industry has invested in the run up to the 1 January deadline when to European ban on battery cages came into force. Egg producers have spent £400 million invested in enriched colony cages while the free range industry has also spent hundreds of million too. The Good Egg Guide on is now on NFUonline; this lists all companies who have confirmed they are sourcing eggs from compliant systems and we are encouraging other companies to sign up. Many companies, large and small, have signed up.

Marketplace update:

• Egg sales up two per cent but value has gone down 0.2 per cent
• Self-sufficiency has increased by five per cent this year: we must focus on getting a better price for all egg producers, particularly the free-range sector
• We will need to find 25 per cent more growing space for chicken production over the next 10 years
• Turkey sales up seven per cent year–on–year
• We don't mind high cereal prices but we don't like fluctuating prices

Next generation work: Large companies are offering apprenticeship schemes for young people from colleges. It is important that young people see the opportunities within the poultry industry and that it is a modern, dynamic industry with career opportunities for everybody.

Christmas turkey campaign: More producers than ever before (339) were listed on the UK Turkeys web site, with packaging sold online for the first time. As a result, packaging sales were up 31 per cent and any income generated goes back into the packaging fund for next year's stock and for any promotional work for seasonal turkey producers. The competition on the web site, which ran during December, had 17,000 entries.

NFU is also launching a recipe competition on the Love Chicken web site for a Jubilee Chicken recipe.

The Board is also working on issues such as beak trimming, CAP, on-farm combustion of poultry litter, IPPC and Campylobacter.