Building Resilience: Policy, Biosecurity and the Future of British Poultry

What does a resilient poultry industry look like?

It is a question that goes far beyond disease control. It touches on infrastructure, investment, technology, skills, trade, public confidence and the role poultry can play in the UK's future food security.

In the latest episode of At the Farm Gate, host Jack Hughes is joined by Richard Griffiths, Chief Executive of the British Poultry Council and President of the International Poultry Council, to explore exactly that.

Their conversation covers some of the biggest issues facing the sector, from building a stronger culture of biosecurity and responding to avian influenza, to the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence and digital technology, the importance of international knowledge sharing and the infrastructure needed to unlock future growth.

The discussion is ultimately one about resilience. The industry has made significant progress, but creating a stronger future will require collaboration between industry and government, continued investment and a willingness to look at the bigger picture.

Making biosecurity part of the culture

Biosecurity is one of the most important tools available to the poultry industry when it comes to disease resilience.

But having protocols in place is only the starting point.

During the conversation, Jack explores the challenge of moving from a compliance driven approach to one where biosecurity becomes embedded in everyday behaviour. For Richard, that means strengthening the relationships between government, industry and everyone working across the supply chain.

That understanding is important because biosecurity is not simply a list of procedures to follow. It is about helping people understand the difference their actions make.

Richard argues that the industry needs to create a sense that everyone is contributing to something bigger than themselves, so that good practice becomes something people genuinely believe in rather than something they do simply because they have to.

And the stakes extend far beyond an individual farm.

An avian influenza outbreak can have consequences for producers, but those impacts can then spread through the wider supply chain, affecting trade, consumer confidence and investment.

That makes resilience a collective responsibility.

Technology could transform the industry's workforce

Technology and AI are rapidly creating new possibilities across poultry production.

Digital monitoring, data collection and increasingly sophisticated systems can help improve efficiency, welfare and decision making. But the conversation also considers what this means for the people working in the sector.

Rather than replacing the workforce, Richard sees technology as changing the nature of the roles people perform.

“It doesn't take out the human element; it just changes the perspective and changes the role of people.”

As technology takes on more routine tasks, people can increasingly focus on expertise, judgement and the critical decisions that machines cannot make on their own.

For an industry facing workforce challenges, that could be significant.

It also creates an opportunity to change perceptions of what a career in poultry looks like. The sector is no longer simply about the roles people may traditionally associate with poultry production. As technology becomes more deeply embedded, there is potential for new career paths and new skills to become part of the industry's future.

Jack highlights how this could attract people who may never previously have considered working in poultry, but who can see a role for themselves through technology and innovation.

There is also a story of progress that the industry can tell.

Richard points to the enormous changes made over the past decade, particularly in areas such as biosecurity, welfare and environmental performance.

“The difference is astronomical.” Recognising that progress matters. It demonstrates what the industry can achieve when it embraces new ideas and continues to evolve.

Avian influenza requires more than one solution

Avian influenza remains one of the defining challenges for poultry producers, and vaccination continues to generate significant discussion.

But Richard is clear that vaccination should not be viewed in isolation.

“It’s not the silver bullet. It has to be part of an overall biosecurity, contingency planning, regulatory measures, the whole package.”

The future approach to avian influenza will therefore need to be multi layered, combining vaccination where appropriate with strong biosecurity, surveillance, contingency planning and effective regulation.

There is also a major trade consideration.

Disease outbreaks can have consequences that reach well beyond the farm where they occur. They can affect exports, supply chains and the movement of food between countries. Richard highlights the importance of understanding those wider implications when considering how vaccination could be used in the future.

It is a reminder that disease resilience cannot be considered in isolation. The industry needs to think about the entire system and how decisions made in one area can influence another.

Telling the story of British poultry

Another important theme in the conversation is public confidence.

Consumers may not always understand the complexity behind the food they buy. The journey from farm to supermarket involves decisions around welfare, disease prevention, environmental impact, production and supply.

Richard believes the industry could do more to explain that story.

“We're good at producing chicken. We do that exceptionally well. Now we're in a position where we perhaps need to talk about it a little bit more.”

That is not about expecting consumers to understand every aspect of poultry production. It is about creating confidence and helping people understand how the industry operates and why particular decisions are being made.

For Jack, education has an important role to play in closing the gap between what happens on farm and what consumers see on the supermarket shelf.

And building that understanding does not necessarily require everyone to become an expert.

Richard's point is that even small moments of awareness can make a difference. If someone learns something new about how their food is produced and feels more confident as a result, that is a positive step.

For an industry that has made significant progress, communicating that progress is increasingly important.

Learning from the global poultry sector

Richard's position at the International Poultry Council gives him a valuable perspective on what is happening across the global poultry industry.

The conversation highlights how knowledge can move in both directions.

The UK has experience that other countries can learn from, including its work around antibiotic use and data collection. At the same time, international experience, particularly around trade, can provide valuable lessons for British producers and policymakers.

Different countries naturally have different priorities. Some may place greater emphasis on welfare, while others focus more heavily on accessibility and food affordability.

But there is a common objective. Feeding people.

As Richard explains, poultry, and particularly chicken, is already one of the most widely consumed meats globally and has significant potential to play an even greater role in feeding a growing population.

The opportunity is therefore not simply to grow the industry, but to continue improving how food is produced.

Infrastructure could unlock the next stage of growth

Towards the end of the conversation, Jack asks Richard what is keeping producers awake at night?

His answer is striking.

“The one thing that is probably keeping people up at night is space and planning and the need for more infrastructure.”

For Richard, infrastructure is increasingly the major barrier preventing the industry from delivering on many of the opportunities discussed throughout the podcast.

The sector has demand. Businesses are prepared to invest. There is a need for new facilities and improvements to existing infrastructure.

But planning and permitting constraints can make it difficult to turn that ambition into reality.

What makes the situation particularly frustrating is the scale of the private investment that could potentially be unlocked.

“There's hundreds of millions of pounds of private investment waiting to go into the sector.”

That investment could do much more than increase production capacity. Richard points out that freeing up space and infrastructure could also support improvements in welfare, biosecurity and avian influenza preparedness.

In other words, infrastructure is not simply about building more.

It could be the foundation for building better.

A pillar of UK food security

So, what would success look like?

If Jack and Richard were to record the conversation again in five years, Richard's vision is an industry experiencing sustained growth, with new farms coming on stream, older farms being rebuilt, new sheds and technology being introduced and investment flowing into the sector.

But the ultimate measure of success is bigger than any one investment or development.

It is recognition of the role poultry plays in feeding the country.

“You can point at the poultry industry and say, that's a pillar of UK food security.”

That is perhaps the central message from the conversation.

British poultry has already demonstrated its ability to adapt, innovate and improve. The opportunity now is to create the conditions that allow that progress to continue.

That means strong biosecurity cultures, a sensible and joined up approach to avian influenza, investment in technology and people, effective international collaboration and the infrastructure to support future growth.

The industry has the opportunity not just to build resilience, but to help shape what a resilient UK food system looks like.

Listen to the full episode

There is much more to the conversation than captured in this blog. From the future of biosecurity and the realities of avian influenza vaccination to AI, workforce development, international trade, planning and the role of poultry in UK food security, Jack Hughes and Richard Griffiths explore the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry.

Click here to watch the full episode.