Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) will open applications for a study tour of commercial egg production in the Netherlands tomorrow (Friday, September 29).
Applications for the three-day study tour researching innovations in hatching and commercial egg production will be accepted from tomorrow until the deadline of Monday, October 9, 2023.
DAERA is offering broiler breeder and commercial egg farmers the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands to learn about and study new technologies for their sectors.
This study tour is part of the Farm Innovation Visits Scheme which is being delivered by the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).
The group chosen for the trip will leave on the morning of Wednesday, November 22, 2023, and return on the evening of Friday, November 24, 2023. The tour will be led by CAFRE’s poultry advisers.
Study tour
The study tour programme will include a tour of Vencomatic Group’s campus with technical talks; a visit to a broiler breeder farm to view an automated egg handling system; a visit to a laying facility to view a new multi-tier system, with heat exchanger ventilation and intelligent lighting; and a visit to Rondeel, a Dutch Better Life system.
While the tour will include visits to farms there will be no access to birds to mitigate avian influenza (bird flu), DAERA said.
The areas of innovation studied on the tour will include:
- Air-to-air heat exchangers – operation and benefits, including ammonia reduction;
- Automated hatching egg handling technology;
- High welfare commercial egg production system;
- In-ovo sexing and on farm hatching of commercial layers;
Applications
DAERA is inviting applications from one member or employee from each poultry business with at least 5,000 commercial laying hens or broiler breeders.
Applicants must be over 18 years old on the application closing date and not in full-time education.
To increase the benefits arising from the study tour, all applicants must identify a group of farmers to share their findings with upon their return.
Up to twenty places are available (aiming to have 10 commercial egg farmers and 10 broiler breeder farmers).
In the situation of over subscription, preference will be given to those with larger poultry enterprises based on potential impact, the department said.
Broiler breeder and commercial egg producers who are interested in participating in this study tour can find out more details and complete an online application on CAFRE’s website.
