THE British turkey industry needs a national voice to reverse the dramatic decline in production, according to the managing director of a Danbury farm.

Paul Kelly, who runs FarmGate Hatcheries, has made his claim following a severe decline in the industry, which has seen the number of birds plummet from 46 million in 1996 to just 13 million today.

Mr Kelly believes a united front could help combat the effect of cheap imports and promote British turkeys.

He said: "The British turkey market has declined dramatically...primarily attributed to the influx of cheap, intensively reared imports.

"Many of these would not meet the welfare standards required in this country.

"The turkey industry used to have big funds to promote itself when the large turkey companies were thriving and making money.

"Things are very different now. There is no money available anymore.

"As a whole, turkey farmers have strength in numbers but we are not pulling together to fund a national generic campaign to support the ‘Great British Turkey’ from your British farm."

In his effort to galvanise support, Mr Kelly is encouraging farmers to join the Anglian Turkey Association or participate in National Farmers Union turkey meetings.

Last year's sales during the cost-of-living crisis turned out better than expected, with a shift in demand to lower-priced turkey joints and crowns.

Looking to the future, Mr Kelly is considering the potential to offer smaller turkeys at Christmas, following the successful sales of 3kg birds processed early due to bird flu in 2022.

He added: "These were not available in 2023, so entry price points for the whole bird were considerably higher.

"We do sell out of the few 2-3kg turkeys we have every year.

"So how do we make small turkeys profitable? That’s something we’re working on."

However, Mr Kelly drew attention to the struggle faced by farmers as supermarkets use standard fresh turkeys as loss leaders, heavily discounting them.

Farmers will additionally confront a 3.3 per cent increase in prices, due to a rise in the national minimum wage counting against falls in feed and energy costs.