By Matt Donald, pig & poultry producer, north Yorkshire
February saw the annual Poultry on the Piste conference come round again, this time in Meribel, France. There was an abundance of snow, with just as much networking and knowledge transfer throughout the week thanks to some fantastic and thought provoking presentations by some delegates. Attended by great group of progressive and diverse businesses, as well as industry professionals always results in you coming away feeling highly motivated. Watch out for details for next year as we head out for the 20th conference.
It was also the NFU conference a few weeks ago, with the theme being resilience in farming. The poultry sector is a very resilient industry and has adapted to change in order to be the strong sector that it is today. As things get tougher for agriculture it was highlighted throughout the event that mixed farming, utilising manures to support soil health is vital, to achieve this joined up collaboration with arable farms as well as the ability to carry on storing and spreading poultry muck is a necessity.
Other ways to improve resilience is disease protection, so it was pleasing to hear the government confirming new grant schemes funding vet visits to discuss both welfare and on site biosecurity strategies- let’s only hope they simplify the application and claim process!
The poultry breakout session involved a panel discussion, talking about risks but also opportunities going forwards. With the increasing use of weight loss jabs, fresh poultry and eggs should be at the forefront of diets as people aim to eat both fresher and healthier foods. To fulfil this with British chicken instead of imports the planning reform taking place at the moment, MUST, take into account the existing planning issues and make it easier for the development of poultry buildings on farm. After all, without modern and reliable infrastructure, there is little resilience.