SEPRA News
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Mr James Steel
6th October 1924 – 3rd April 2006
Away back in 1970 when I was based as a SAI poultry adviser at Lanark, there was talk that packing stations on the demise of the BEMB would stop taking any surplus eggs from producers. That was unless they were registered as a sole supplier to that Packing Station.
Jim and Annie Steel at Cobblehaugh Farm Lanark had a successful dairy herd but also an equally successful egg unit, selling eggs and home grown potatoes in Lanarkshire.
I suggested to Jimmy that we should get egg producers together and form a group which could exchange surplus eggs between members. He was most enthusiastic and he called a meeting at the end of 1970 to be held at the Crown Hotel in Carluke. 23 egg producers turned up, and from that first meeting SEPRA was born.
At one time we had an Ayrshire branch as well as the main group.
Jimmy chaired all the Committee meetings and kept all in order. An excellent Chairman. He had to be good to be able to control Committee members such as Jock Stewart and Sam Merry !
Jimmy at that time felt that the NFU did not fully involve themselves in the poultry industry, but through time he invited Bob Sandilands who was the local NFU secretary to the meetings and from there on the NFU were encouraged to take part in our Industry.
Jimmy was a great dancer and it was a treat to see him and Annie on the floor at the SEPRA dinner dances. The first one was held at the Monkland Hotel in Airdrie, I believe the tickets cost 12/6 each with free wine and cigarettes on all the tables!
Jimmy fought hard for the egg producers, and chaired many special meetings, like the launch in Glasgow of the SEPRA idea of selling eggs by weight.
That Press launch even saw attendance of Denis Cummings of the E A who came to give SEPRA encouragement.
Jimmy always had a story to tell. I spoke to him and Annie about 10 days ago and Jimmy was still the same, laughing at my joke, and equally at his, sounding as young as ever.
I shall miss him, as our industry will also.
Muriel and I attended his funeral yesterday in Forfar along with another 500 ! So many friends he had and all with the same story. A lovely man.
A collection took place at the church for Cancer Research and also funds for the church itself, a lovely old church, and your Association made a donation on your behalf.
The Steels are a great family and we are sure Annie will take great comfort from Margaret, Annie, John and Andrew.
Jimmy took ill at home at Forfar and died peacefully in Ninewells Hospital on Monday morning.
JSR Services (Blairgowrie) Ltd.
JSR Services (Blairgowrie) Ltd.
John & Linda Retson's second son Stuart is joining the company on 10th April to concentrate on sales with a view to building up this part of their business.
He has a separate telephone number which is +44(0)7917 730452 and he will be pleased to hear from you regarding any feature of the business.
Stuart's younger brother Andrew will continue with the distribution and farming side of JSR Services, that is when he is not nipping across to France to pursue his snowboarding hobby!! We wish him well in his new venture.
Avian Influenza
Yesterday saw the announcement that the dead swan found in the harbour at Cellardyke in Fife was tested positive for H5N1. The Press and TV were on to Moira and I and in radio and TV appearances I thought Moira made an excellent response, pointing out that egg and chicken were safe to eat. Fortunately I was away for all of Thursday and it was in the evening late night before the media caught up with me. They really are after stories which will sell newspapers, not just the true story.
I noticed Jackie Bird on BBC Scotland Nws at 6.30 last night standing at the harbour at Cellardyke pointing to the very spot the dead swan had been found. That was her and her sound and vision crew traipsing around (as she called it) the epicentre of the disease.
I would have thought more respect should have been shown for the disease ? She admitted that farmers were being kept at home if they were in the 3km surveillance zone !
As I am trying to leave home at mid-day on my journey down South, I have taken the easy way out and re-printed a report of David Spackman’s from the UKEP report.
All will, by now, be aware that the swan found on the seashore at Cellardyke in Fife, was positive for H5N1 influenza.
Although that area of the Scottish coast has a resident and principally static population of Mute swans, nevertheless, up to two dozen migrants are known to arrive, probably from north Germany.
This, you will recall, is an area where H5N1 has been found in swans previously.
It is not known whether the bird found came from there or, indeed if it flew over or drifted on the tide.
Much has been made of the time taken between discovery of the dead bird and confirmation, but it falls into line with the wild bird monitoring when no previous positive result had been obtained.
If fact, in Scotland, over 1,000 dead birds had already been sampled, of which 400 were swans, so a positive was not thought to be highly suspected.
A 3km protective zone was put into place before final confirmation, within which there are no registered poultry units.
Within the 10km surveillance zone are 10 registered poultry units, which now will be closely monitored by Veterinary staff.
Since the resident swan locations extend from Fife up to Montrose, a further extended "Wild Bird Risk Area" has been declared by the Scottish Executive, which extends up past Dundee to Stonehaven, an area of 2,500km2.
Within that area, there are 175 registered poultry units, of which 48 are free-range, these containing a total of 260,000 birds.
Leaving aside other small, unregistered premises, these 260,000 form the realistic "units at risk" and, with proper biosecurity measures in place, including confinement, actually pose a negligible problem to the commercial sector.
There will be considerably enhanced wild bird, especially swan, surveillance within this extended area, over and above the normal 10km area usually imposed.
The Scottish Chief Medical Officer clearly stated that there was no risk to humans from the isolation, nor from freely eating poultry or eggs, as long as they were properly cooked in accordance with FSA guidelines, and even then this was for reasons other that AI.
The Scottish Chief Veterinary Officer likewise predicted the risk to commercial poultry as extremely low.
In Germany, the first large-scale commercial outbreak of H5N1 has occurred, involving a unit with 8,000 turkeys, about 5,000 ducks and 3,400 hens, near the border with the Czech Republic.
All have been slaughtered out and the usual restrictions and surveillance zones set up.
Until this morning I had not realised just how many newspapers and TV companies there were, and I am sure that each and every one of them has rung my number from 8am this morning !
All praise to Moira who gave up her work time to put your fears etc across to the media and of course the public.
I have not any more news for you. I have a heavy cold, and I am off down to England at lunch time today to meet my son. Then I have a twins christening on Sunday at Ormskirk.
Perhaps next week will bring happier news.
EGGs...cited
Dennis Surgenor
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