And as bird flu threatens the mass market, farmers fear spread of virus with six weeks to Christmas
Free-range turkey rearer Mary Breen, pictured in 2022, called a halt this year. Photo: Don Moloney
Jimmy Woulfe and Wayne O’Connor
Today at 06:30
As avian flu threatens the mass-produced turkey market this Christmas, many small producers of free-range turkeys have already gone out of business due in part to increased regulations.
For the first time in almost 50 years, Mary Breen’s farmyard in Cullen, on the Limerick-Tipperary border has fallen silent. Ms Breen traditionally produced up to 45 hand-reared free-range turkeys on the family dairy farm. But this year she has been forced to call a halt.