Fattened duck farming in Gironde is facing avian flu in neighboring departments and rising food and energy prices. Jean-Luc Tauzin is a breeder in Brannens in southern Gironde.
France Bleu: Avian flu is very present in the region at the moment, yet the Girondin ducks are spared for the moment, how can this be explained?
Jean-Luc Tauzin: The farms in Gironde are very few and small, it is this spacing between the animals which makes it possible to avoid the epidemic. For the moment our production is doing well but we have to be very careful because the avian flu is approaching, the Lot is now contaminated and it is a neighboring department.
Despite this advantage, the situation is difficult on the farms, why?
There are two reasons, the first is that with the war in Ukraine the price of materials such as cereals and diesel has increased enormously. For the moment we’re pretty much getting by, but for that the price of end products such as foie gras or duck breast had to be increased by 10%. Ideally, it should be increased further because our margins are currently very low, but at the same time we don’t want to penalize the consumer.
The second reason is that the virus, if it does not affect our farms, it affects the incubators (those who give birth to the ducklings). 80% of their breeding ducks have been killed, which slows down their rate of production and distribution. I, for example, was to receive a new arrival of ducks and two hours before the delivery I learned that it would not take place. Finally I found a competitor to deliver me but the future of the production is very worrying. For the moment, we have enough to produce until August, but after that… we don’t know. If the solution does not evolve there may be no ducks for the end of year celebrations. Which would be a big loss for us breeders, since sales over the December period represent nearly 40% of our turnover for the year.