COVID 19 – and some of its effects on Humphrey Feeds and Pullets and how it may affect its customers.

You may already be deluged with information from every quarter about Coronavirus (COVID-19), so I must apologise in advance for this update, which will touch on a broad range of issues.

How does Coronavirus affect Humphrey Feeds and Pullets?

There are some aspects of our business which will be unaffected by the virus, but it is likely to affect us through the seclusion and health of our people, particularly our drivers, the vaccination teams we use on our farms, and of course our field support team.

What preparations have Humphrey Feeds and Pullets taken?

We have trialled operating the feed mill with reduced numbers and have implemented segregation plans that allow us to run separate teams operating the mill, and have run our transport fleet with reduced numbers – all for two weeks.  All the feed was made and delivered.

Our admin teams, both in the main office, and in the mill have also remotely tested company mobiles and laptops from home, and the IT works perfectly, and as a result I can confirm that remote working is up and running for all desk based roles and strict rota’s are in place to cover those essential functions that cannot be addressed from home.

What will happen next?

Whilst the news is gloomy, the truth is that we are probably in the ‘phoney war’ stage of this issue, it will worsen, as more people are affected through contagion or self-isolation.

Our Poultry Specialists are keen to continue supporting their customers for as long as their assistance is required, and they are allowed to do it.

What will help us all through this situation?

Maintain bio-security, both for people and your birds.  If we did not have the news so glumly reporting Coronavirus, we might be talking about the threat of Low Path AI in the UK, as 360,000 birds were recently slaughtered in Northern Ireland, and 1,400,000 are currently being slaughtered in the south of Scotland.  It is imperative that bio-security is maintained for your birds.

Ordering – as we cannot plan for illness, there may be some late logistical planning changes, and so we would appreciate receiving feed orders in good time, preferably at least a week prior to the required delivery, and also the flexibility of having at least a two day window in which deliveries can be made.

Pullet visits – we have always encouraged customers to visit their birds in rear, and have usually been able to facilitate this by driving customers to see their birds.  Until this crisis is over, we are unable to drive customers in our cars.  We do however understand that customers will want to see their birds.  Please let us know if you want to see your birds, and we will send you a USB stick with a video of an inspection of your birds.

Administration – the reliability of the postal service may become challenged, and so alternatives to invoices sent by snail mail will need to be found.  We are sending an increasing number of invoices by email to our customers.  For the duration of this conditions, we will have to issue invoices by email, unless someone is not in a position to receive them by email.

Most feed orders are placed verbally on our system, which goes to our office phone, and can be picked up by up to four people, although Sally is usually the quickest to pick up the phone.  Whilst our people are working from home, the phone calls can only be routed to one mobile, so if there are too many phone calls to the usual number of 01962 764510, then there can end up being a backlog on Sally’s diverted mobile. 

During this period, can I ask that as many orders as possible are placed by email, as they are sent to a variety of people – including Sally.  That email is feed@hfandp.co.uk  

Similarly, payments for your feed could be held up the snail mail for the few people that still pay by cheque.  Please will you either pay by BACS, or we can initiate payments by direct debit for those that wish to transfer to this easy method of payment.

Having electronic payments will limit your exposure, and our staff’s exposure to having to go into a bank to cash cheques, so please give this matter further consideration.

Field Visits by our Poultry Specialists – these will have to be confined to essential visits only, which we define as:

1. The arrival of new pullets

2. Requests for welfare based assistance

Sadly, this means that our team cannot currently attend routine visits, to weigh birds, eggs or provide face to face advice.  Our excellent team of poultry specialists will now be operating from home, and will be responsive to your phone calls, texts and emails – from their home.

Feed and Pullet Deliveries – we do have the raw materials to make feed deliveries, but our supply chain has always been focused on just in time, and building stocks takes time, but at the moment, there are enough raw materials in the UK to meet our requirements for several months. 

Please could we ask that delivery vehicles have unimpeded access to feed bins, to ensure that they do not need to have unnecessary contact with staff on your farm.

If you have any special requirements for deliveries or visits made to your farm during this period, please contact my colleague Natasha Brown, either by her mobile: 01962 764557, or by email  natashab@hfandp.co.uk, who will ensure that all departments know your specific instructions. 

Please also let us know if you have a vulnerable person on site, to ensure that none of our people can in any way endanger their health by taking appropriate precautions.

Pullet Deliveries - Whilst we are confident of being able to rear and deliver excellent pullets to our customers, a weak link is the fact that we are reliant on 3rd party vaccinators and loaders to be fit and present to undertake the task.  We may need some flexibility on the timing of pullet deliveries due to the potential of labour shortages.  We will also need to be in close communication with our customers ensuring the previous flock has been adequately depopulated, the site cleaned, and that it is ready to receive the birds, and with adequate labour to assist with unloading. 

If your plans change on the specific timing of the delivery of pullets, please contact Alison Speres on 01962764541 or alisons@hfandp.co.uk.

You can read more about what effect is this having on commodity markets in this weeks Commodity Report.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on 07785 222279 or martinh@hfandp.co.uk.

Martin Humphrey