The economics of woodland eggs in the UK

• Author(s): Burgess, P. ; Belot, V. ; Buachie, E. ; Cuartero de Frias, J. ; Nedved, K. ; Rodriguez Arquero, E.
• Date: 2014
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/7286
• Origin: Repositório da UTL
• Subject(s): woodland; egg production; agroforestry
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

Presentation This paper will report on a current study on the economics of woodland eggs in the UK for the Woodland Trust, due to be completed in early May 2014. An increasing proportion of the eggs sold in the UK are obtained from “free-range” hens who can roam outdoors. In some situations the outdoor environment is a field of grass. However at least 150 producers in the UK have opted to plant trees next to the hen houses and the resulting eggs have been marketed as “woodland eggs”. Before domestication, the natural habitat of poultry was a woodland habitat and hens show a preference for ranging in areas with trees. Other experiments have shown that access to woodland can reduce injurous pecking. There may also be benefits in terms of capturing ammonia and in sequestering carbon. This paper will look at the financial implications of woodland egg production from the perspective of a producer, including an assessment of the price premium that can be achieved. It will then review the economic implications of woodland egg production from a societal viewpoint. Lastly the paper will consider the key opportunities and challenges of this agroforestry system in terms of the long term sustainability.