The Poultry Network Podcast

In this episode of The Poultry Network Podcast, Tom Woolman and Tom Willings speak with North Yorkshire broiler farmer Paul Flintoff about the serious impact of a Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak on his farm. Paul explains how a routine day-18 boot swab, taken as part of the National Control Programme, came back as a Group B positive suspect, with confirmation arriving six days later from APHA. By...

In this Poultry Network episode, Tom Woolman and Tom Willings speak to poultry vet Daniel Parker about the renewed threat from Newcastle disease and what UK producers should be doing now. The discussion sets the issue in context: DEFRA has raised the risk level to medium, outbreaks in Europe have moved west, and nearly 2 million birds have reportedly been lost over the last 18 months. Mr Parker ex...

Poultry Network’s latest podcast hears from Rose Hill’s Dave Hodson Jr, who argues that strong layer performance starts with getting the basics right – and that vaccination only delivers if it is applied properly. Speaking on a technical episode focused on the laying sector, Mr Hodson drew on decades of experience working with commercial flocks and said producers should think less about vaccinatio...

In this episode of the Poultry Network Podcast, Tom Woolman and Tom Willings are joined by NFU Chief Poultry Adviser Aimee Mahony for a timely discussion following the NFU Conference. Aimee reflects on nearly a decade with the NFU and explains how the poultry sector is working to raise its profile within wider farming and government policy. The conversation explores the key themes from this year’s...

UK Poultry Briefing: Better Chicken Commitment pullback, enriched-cage ban consultation & new farm tech grants This week’s Poultry Network podcast reviews three issues with direct impact on UK producers, integrators, egg packers and the wider poultry supply chain. Better Chicken Commitment (BCC): UK Hospitality says a group of 18 major foodservice brands (including KFC and Nando’s) will step a...

Tom Woolman and Tom Willings welcome back their first repeat guests to the Poultry Network Podcast: Kelly Grelier (Chief Commercial Officer, RSPCA Assured) and Kate Parks (Senior Scientific Officer, RSPCA). After the hosts’ earlier coverage, they set out RSPCA Assured’s perspective on the revised hatchery standards, now in force from 16 February. The updated standard applies across poultry sectors...

UK egg consumption is climbing again, but welfare reform, planning and trade policy will determine whether domestic supply keeps up. Tom Woolman and Tom Willings speak with BEIC CEO Nick Allen, eight months into the job after a career in soft fruit, on what the Government’s animal welfare strategy means for the sector. Mr Allen sets out the BEIC’s remit across 11 trade bodies and the Lion Food Saf...

Campylobacter on supermarket chicken may have slipped from the headlines since the Food Standards Agency (FSA) surveys of 2014–15, but it hasn’t gone away. In this Poultry Network Podcast episode, hosts Tom Willings and Tom Woolman revisit one of the poultry sector’s biggest food‑safety challenges and ask why Campylobacter remains a leading cause of gastroenteritis — with an estimated ~500,000 cas...

In this episode of The Poultry Network Podcast, Tom Woolman and Tom Willings are joined again by poultry consultant David Mark to discuss what it takes to develop new broiler units (or expand existing broiler sites) in today’s UK poultry industry. Drawing on his work with growers (including many in Lincolnshire), David sets out where the opportunities are, what the biggest blockers tend to be, and...

Two-part special: Tom Woolman and Tom Willings are joined by veteran food technologist and consultant David Mark. In Part 1, David looks back on a career that started in a Northern Ireland dairy co-op in 1979, moved through the marketing board, a stint as a McDonald's franchisee (from cleaning toilets to Hamburger University), liquid egg processing, and senior technical roles with O'Kane Poultry a...

Tom Woolman and Tom Williams are back for 2026 with a quick New Year catch‑up (including Tom’s other life in the Backwood Redeemers… on accordion), then they dive into the biggest policy headlines that landed over the festive break. This episode focuses on the government’s new animal welfare strategy (described as “the most ambitious in a generation”) and what it could mean for UK livestock — with...

In this Christmas episode of The Poultry Network podcast, hosts Tom Willings and Tom Woolman close out 2025 with a sector roundup, alongside festive banter about their non-jumper fleeces, the cat walking out mid-recording, and a sheep update (“the ram is out and two are lame”). Avian influenza dominates the conversation. Housing orders are framed as a recurring strain on the industry – birds final...

In this Poultry Network Podcast, hosts Tom Woolman and Tom Willings speak with Angela Curtis , CEO of RoboScientific – whose presentation at the BFREPA conference created a real buzz – about how “electronic nose” technology could change flock health management. RoboScientific has spent around 10 years developing a system that samples the air in poultry houses and analyses volatile organic compound...

In this episode, Tom Willings is joined by Jake Davies to unpack a hugely successful British Free Range Egg Producers Association (Bfrepa) conference and awards. Industry momentum on full display Both presenters note the strongest footfall in years , with a striking increase in farmer attendance and a noticeable uplift in the professionalism and investment seen across trade stands. Senior figures...

In this episode of the Poultry. Network Podcast, Tom Woolman and Jake Davies sit down with Emily Neate-Wynne (Evans Vanodine) and Kelly Anderson (Lohmann GB) to talk about careers, community and the fast-growing Women in Poultry initiative. Both guests share how they “fell into” poultry – from family egg farms and weekend egg collecting to technical roles in biosecurity, pullets and sales. They re...

Tom Woolman and Tom Willings take a slightly lighter approach this week, but there’s still plenty of business in the mix. They start with a quick catch‑up, a livestock update from Tom’s small sheep flock, and a chance encounter with the “poet of Paddington” who delivers an impromptu chicken-themed poem on the station concourse. The main focus is on what’s coming up for UK poultry producers over th...

In this episode of the Poultry. Network podcast, Tom Willings and Tom Woolman talk to Aaron McKenna, Head of Broiler Operations UK at Pilgrims Europe. Aaron outlines his route into poultry – from a small mixed farm in Northern Ireland with a strong interest in dairy, through a graduate scheme at Moy Park, to his current role. He also explains how the business supported him through a doctorate focu...

THIS week, the Poultry Network Podcast recorded a last-minute episode to consider the latest avian influenza situation – particularly the Welsh government's reluctance to declare a housing order. With Professor Ian Brown warning that this season could be the worst yet, England has extended a mandatory housing order nationwide, while Northern Ireland follows suit. Wales, however, has not (yet) anno...

This week the Toms unpack two fast-moving issues with real commercial consequences for UK poultry businesses: the regional housing order for avian influenza and industry rumblings over how “seconds” are classified at egg packing centres. AI: early season, uneven policy, real market risk. A regional mandatory housing order takes effect on 30 October across much of northern England and the Midlands/...

The “Two Toms” – Tom Willings and Tom Woolman – return with a relaxed but purposeful take on what’s moving the poultry sector. After some road-warrior and makeshift-office banter, Tom W reports back from the Dutch Pork & Poultry Expo in ’s-Hertogenbosch: a wave of robotics and AI, a colossal chicken/turkey harvester, and a spotlight on feed form innovation. He flags AgriFirm’s “Crunch” – a mas...

In this episode of the Sustainability Hub podcast, host Tom Willings is joined by three veterinary voices connected to Elanco Animal Health: Jackie Skelly (Head of Veterinary Technical Services, UK & Ireland and ESG lead), George Gould (Technical Advisor, International Poultry Team) and George Tice (former Elanco leader, now consultant after 28 years with the company). Together, they map the p...

A chilly house, ten uncooperative sheep, and some serious industry talking points. In this episode of the Poultry Network Podcast , hosts Tom Woolman and Tom Willings catch up on the latest from Aviagen’s producer roadshows and discuss why UK broiler performance is comparing favourably with results seen elsewhere in Europe. While some of the improvement may reflect down-stocking, they note that go...

The Poultry Network Podcast welcomes Julian “Jules” Sparrey, Group Technical Director at LiveTec, to unpack what producers should expect from avian influenza (AI) this winter and how to harden farm resilience. LiveTec, prime contractor to government for AI outbreak response, now puts most of its effort into prevention — its “four Ps”: Prevention, Protection, Planning and Prediction. Having worked...

In this episode, hosts Tom Willings and Tom Woolman speak with Dr Paul Hurley (University of Southampton) and Dr Pippa Simmons (University of Gloucestershire) about Tri-SoMe CHICKEN — a three-year, UKRI-funded project examining the resilience of the UK’s chicken meat system. With chicken now accounting for around half of UK meat consumption, the team argues that understanding where the broiler sec...

This week on the Poultry Network Podcast, host Tom Woolman is joined by editor Jake Davies for a special post-Poultry Network Live edition. Two weeks after the conference at Harper Adams, the pair introduce an exclusive: Professor David “Professor Food” Hughes’ keynote, captured on video by our on-site filmmaker Finn. The episode sets up that talk and why it matters now—then hands the mic to David...