An employee at a Middleton on the Wolds based family poultry farming business has been awarded one of 12 places on a national poultry development programme.

Emily Hughes, Poultry Health Specialist at Clive Soanes Broilers, was selected from over 40 applicants to join the NFU’s PIP (Poultry Industry Programme) cohort for 2022/2023.

The PIP was initially started by the NFU to develop young people already working within the poultry industry and broaden their knowledge. The programme builds on the cohort’s existing skills and knowledge to help them develop their careers as future industry leaders. The programme comprises a series of events and training which give participants a unique insight into the industry whilst providing networking opportunities.

A Harper Adams agri-food marketing and business graduate, Ms. Hughes joined Clive Soanes Broilers in January 2021. She applied to join the PIP to get ‘more awareness of what’s going on in the wider industry and a bit more involvement with other young people in poultry on the PIP.’

NFU poultry adviser Tom Glen said: “It is important to engage and encourage the next generation and the NFU’s Poultry Industry Programme aims to inspire those already working within the sector to become future leaders.”

In November, the 2022/23 PIP cohort gathered at the NFU HQ at Stoneleigh Park for a training session on leadership. You can read Ms Hughes’s account of the day here: https://bit.ly/PIPLeadership

Clive Soanes Broilers has been rearing chicken since 1947. The chicken is processed and sold by sister company Soanes Poultry to butchers, independent retailers and restaurants in Yorkshire and wholesalers and catering butchers nationwide.