Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 53


     
     1
     2                       (Short Adjournment).
     3
     4   MS. STEEL:  Do you know Mr. Edward Thomas who was the Chairman
     5        of the Herefordshire branch of the National Farmers Union?
     6        A.  Yes, I do.
     7
     8   Q.   He supplies birds to Sun Valley?
     9        A.  Yes, he does.
    10
    11   Q.   How many birds a year does he supply?
    12        A.  I honestly have no idea.
    13
    14   Q.   Would a figure of 1.5 million birds a year -- well, this
    15        was September 1991, would that sound reasonable?
    16        A.  Yes, that could be right.
    17
    18   Q.   How well do you know Mr. Thomas?
    19        A.  Not very well.  I have visited his farm on a number of
    20        occasions, met him from time to time, but I do not know him
    21        particularly well.
    22
    23   Q.   Are you aware of him opposing a call for a ban on poultry,
    24        offal and manure being incorporated into animal feed?
    25        A.  No, I am not aware of that.
    26
    27   Q.   Could you get the latest list of documents?  It should be a
    28        thin volume on the far right, the blue on the top.
    29
    30   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Bundle V.
    31
    32   MS. STEEL:  Turn to document 6.  Then if you could turn to page
    33        11 in that, please.  If you could just quickly read through
    34        that to yourself.
    35        A.  OK.
    36
    37   Q.   At that time in 1991 were you aware of poultry, offal and
    38        manure being used in animal feeds?
    39        A.  Well, as I say, the poultry manure, there has always
    40        been the technology there to use it for animal feed.  It
    41        was not used for poultry feed, certainly not our poultry
    42        feed.  The use of poultry offal meal was a common practice
    43        at that time and subsequent to the publicity around the
    44        salmonella scare it became less and less acceptable to
    45        consumers to include poultry offal meal in the diet for
    46        poultry.  So we bowed to public pressure and took it out.
    47
    48   Q.   Were you aware of problems of disposing of waste offal
    49        and -----
    50 
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can we have a date for that?  It may have 
    52        been given and I have not made a note of it.  When was it 
    53        taken out when you bowed to public pressure?
    54        A.  I am guessing, I would say it was around 1992.
    55
    56   Q.   So before 1992 or whenever it was, your poultry environment/index.html">litter
    57        could go towards feed, not for poultry but for beef and
    58        pigs, could it?
    59        A.  Not the poultry environment/index.html">litter.  Sorry, the poultry environment/index.html">litter,
    60        yes.  The poultry environment/index.html">litter in the case of Sun Valley is sold

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