Ep 18: "Robots, Red Tractor and River Wye: This Week in the UK Poultry Sector

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 mash/crumb hybrid – to open a wider discussion on particle size, digestibility and early-life feed waste (including a mini-pellet revival).

The Toms then turn to unpacking live legal and standards stories: the River Wye civil action (Leigh Day, Avara and others) and potential ramifications across the value chain; the Red Tractor TV ad that was pulled and what “farming with care” does – and doesn’t – claim; plus welfare campaigning from Compassion in World Farming. 

They tie these threads into the Try Some Chicken initiative – balancing welfare, environment and cost – and probe the gap between what we say as citizens and what we buy as consumers.

A light sign-off rounds things out: weekend plans, and a nudge to catch the earlier episode and stay tuned for sector updates.