Episode Details

Tom Willings and Tom Woolman are back for a host-only industry roundup, swapping Bank Holiday stories before turning to the upcoming British Pig & Poultry Fair. They discuss the sessions they are most looking forward to, including artificial intelligence, poultry meat market outlooks, egg market insight and retaining talent on farm.

The episode also covers recent sector headlines, including the Joice & Hill hatchery salmonella investigation, 2 Sisters Food Group’s latest soy sourcing commitment, Cranswick’s proposed poultry processing site near Grimsby, the latest Defra egg production figures, pressure around the future of colony cages, and the ongoing River Wye legal case involving Avara Foods and Welsh Water.

In this episode

Tom and Tom discuss:

• Why the British Pig & Poultry Fair remains such an important meeting point for a sector spread across the country.
• The forum sessions worth watching, from AI and market outlooks to women in agriculture and retaining talent on farm.
• Poultry Network’s show stand, the Fortnum & Mason hamper competition, and the etiquette of trade show freebies.
• Joice & Hill’s return to operations following hatchery restrictions linked to salmonella detection.
• 2 Sisters Food Group’s new approach to soy sourcing and British-grown protein in poultry feed.
• Cranswick’s proposed new poultry processing site near Grimsby and what it could mean for growers in the east of England.
• The latest UK egg production trends, including continued free-range growth and falling colony cage share.
• BVA and BVPA calls for enriched cages to be phased out, and the industry debate around welfare, food security, affordability and import equivalence.
• The River Wye court case and why environmental scrutiny remains high on the poultry sector agenda.
• Why continuous improvement is likely to be more constructive than simply calling for production systems to be scrapped.

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Poultry Network’s British Pig & Poultry Fair Preview, a special preview ahead of the British Pig & Poultry Fair 2026 at the NEC, Birmingham on 13–14 May. The preview includes reasons to attend, forum highlights, poultry meat and egg outlooks, and exhibitor insight across biosecurity, water, bedding, housing and climate control. Poultry Network will be on Stand 6-228.