Poultry training award promises to boost career prospects

Winning the Zoetis/British Poultry Council Trainee of the Year Award, which opens for entries this month, is one sure way to improve your career prospects. 

The award, organised in association with Poultry World, offers a £2,000 training grant from Zoetis to enhance professional knowledge and skills, a £500 cash prize from Poultry World and the opportunity to attend the prestigious award ceremony at the House of Commons.

Entries are simple to make and open to all in the industry – with no age limit – but must be received by Friday 18 September.

Complete the Zoetis/British Poultry Council Trainee of the Year Award 2015 online application

The 2013 winner, 25-year-old Nicholas Ham, has just completed a one-year diploma in applied poultry science with Scotland’s Rural College at Ayr. As a distance learning course, it takes up 10 to 14 hours a week and several study weekends at the college.

“It’s quite a lot of work, but I found it very valuable,” said Mr Ham, who studied nutrition, production systems, health and hygiene, environment and housing as part of the course.

See also: Turkey farm manager wins top training prize

And to prove the benefit, Mr Ham has now been promoted by his employers, Cargill Meats Europe, to the role of area manager for 10 rearing sites across Herefordshire and Shropshire. 

The 2012 award winner, Rachel Almey, used the grant to finance a two-week poultry health course at Pirbright Institute based at Compton, Berkshire. Now the mother of 19-month-old George, she is managing an 87,000-bird broiler farm for Hook 2 Sisters at Laxfield, Suffolk, where her last flock achieved an EPEF of 405. 

And last year’s winner, Sam Jones, grandparent farms manager with Aviagen Turkeys, is looking to further his knowledge of ventilation through a course, either at the SRUC or maybe the University of Georgia, USA. “Unlike with broilers and layers, this is one aspect not well covered for turkeys – but would benefit our customers as well as ourselves.”

Over the past nine years the award has grown in stature, attracting entries from across the poultry industry. 

“The award is helping to showcase the enormous career opportunities there are in one of the most dynamic sectors of British agriculture,” said James Porritt, Zoetis poultry manager in the UK and Ireland. “Winning the award is bound to enhance your prospects and demonstrate how serious you are about developing your knowledge and skills to advance your career.”

The judges will assess the entries and choose three finalists who will be interviewed on Tuesday 10 November. They will then attend the prestigious BPC poultry awards presentations at the House of Commons on Tuesday 8 December when the winner will be announced.   

Entries can be made online at www.bhrcommunications.co.uk/pages/Zoetisform.html or using the printed form with this issue.