Twenty young people will be taking part in a new training programme aimed at creating new industry leaders for British poultry.The Poultry Industry Programme, a joint initiative by the NFU and ABN, will give them an insight into market influences that impact on British poultry meat and egg production. They will also learn about the importance of lobbying and policy development, managing and mitigating risks in feed raw materials, and how planning and bank lending can influence business expansion.
As part of the seven-month initiative, they’ll also receive training in media, social media, negotiation skills and a look at market demands from supermarkets and the British consumer.
NFU poultry board member Kinsey Hern, a broiler producer from Herefordshire, said: “I want those involved to take away skills that will add real value to their business and importantly an understanding of what the NFU does for them as poultry producers in the UK and Europe.
“I hope that some of them will remain involved with the NFU at some level, whether nationally, locally or regionally. You never know we may even produce a future president of the NFU.”
Long-term it is hoped the programme will create a communication network between young producers and the poultry board, to help the NFU put in place a succession plan for its poultry board.
The programme, starting at the NFU’s offices in Stoneleigh Park on October 17, comes as research* suggests meat consumption is expected to grow at one of the highest rates among major agricultural commodities, mostly in poultry, increasing by 2.4 per cent each year. By, 2020 total consumption of poultry is expected to overtake consumption of pig meat.
ABN’s commercial director Kevin Sketcher said: “The poultry industry has responded positively to change, showing large increases in efficiencies through quality feed and feed additives, genetics, supply chain and husbandry techniques which have improved feed conversion rates significantly. However, there are still a number of challenges in delivering continued production, quality and welfare improvements off the back of managing volatile raw material prices while trying to feed a growing population.
“This programme has been designed to provide the tools for the next generation of farmers so they can meet these growing challenges and to ensure they can provide high quality and value products for the UK consumer.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
