ONE Health Live
Examining the issues of importance to animals, humans and the environment to help those across the food production system better understand the issues from a science-based perspective.
ONE Health Live
Shaping the poultry industry's next chapter
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The ground beneath global poultry is shifting, and not just inside the barn. Fresh from the International Poultry Council meeting in Atlanta, we unpack how geopolitical tension, a fragmenting trade order, and transboundary diseases like avian influenza are rewriting the playbook for a sector that feeds billions. Joined by Richard Griffiths, CEO of the British Poultry Council and new IPC president, we explore what leadership looks like when the old rules no longer guarantee market access, predictability, or policy certainty.
We dig into the realities behind food security, antimicrobial resistance, and biosecurity, connecting them through the One Health lens that links animal health, human well-being, and environmental stewardship. Richard explains why consistency and standardization made poultry a global success story—and how the next chapter will require a stronger, more credible industry voice with institutions like FAO and WOAH. We talk candidly about trade risk, confidence, and how to keep buyers and regulators aligned around science-based solutions that protect safety and keep protein affordable.
AI takes center stage as both opportunity and responsibility. From barn-level data that improves welfare and efficiency to scenario modeling that helps policymakers stress-test decisions, we frame AI as a tool to inform human judgment, not replace it. The conversation hits on data quality, governance, and the big goal: use technology to reduce bad decisions while preserving accountability. With IPC's Belfast 2027 meeting on the horizon, we outline a practical 15‑month agenda focused on trade resilience, avian influenza preparedness, and collaborative frameworks that turn uncertainty into progress. If you care about resilient supply chains, smart policy, and a secure protein future, you’ll find clear insights and next steps here. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review to join the conversation.
Welcome to One Health Live, where we examine the topics of importance to animals, humans, and the environment. Our goal is to help those across the food production system better understand the issues at hand from a science-based perspective. In One Health Live, we strive to be thought-provoking and fact-based as we bring you the latest in news and insight. I'm Sarah Muirhead, and with me today is One Health Live co-host, Dennis Urplelding, founder of Global Farmview. Welcome, Dennis.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks, Sarah. It's great to be with you today, and also we're delighted to have an amazing guest with us today.
SPEAKER_00:And we are coming to you from Atlanta, Georgia, where the International Poultry Council just had its annual meeting in conjunction with the IPPE show 2026. So go ahead and introduce our guest, if you would, please, Dennis.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, Sarah, today we're delighted to have Richard Griffiths with us, who's the chief executive of the British Poultry Council. Also, he's the newly elected president of the International Poultry Council. So he's got the strong experience in the UK, but importantly on the global role, and he's been a leader in the International Poultry Council for the last several years in the executive leadership under the executive committee. So we think about the One Health concepts and we think about the poultry sector, we recognize poultry right now as the most widely consumed meat globally. So we think about the One Health concept of food security, very importantly. Also from the International Poultry Council, we've been very much involved in the antimicrobial resistance aspects, and also obviously more recently on the topics around avian influenza. So very timely today as we think about the International Poultry Council meeting that we just had, as well as at the end of the IPPE show this week. So, Richard, um recognizing this is your first annual meeting as IPC president, you just took the leadership role. What stood out from the discussions um that you had with the members this week?
SPEAKER_02:There's so much. There's so much to talk about, and thank you very much for having me on here today. Um I don't want to start being as being the fun sponge here, but the thing that really stood out for me this week is everything's getting more difficult, everything's getting more challenging. Not necessarily within the industry, but all the factors outside of the industry are just piling on more and more, and we've got a I think we've got a tough time ahead, both as producers, but also as the IPC.
SPEAKER_00:Geopolitics, trade uncertainty, avian influenza, probably some of those things you're referencing here, they were really on the agenda, the IPC agenda this week. How do these issues reshape IPC's priorities for the year ahead?
SPEAKER_02:Our priorities, we have to focus on the needs of our members, first and foremost, those business critical issues. And some of those are just a part of our everyday work. Avian influenza, for example, antimicrobial resistance, your food safety and trade, they're still there, they're always going to be there. But, and this is the big but that makes it really quite scary, those geopolitical issues that we're seeing emerge are enormous, and we don't yet understand the impacts of that. And that's where IPC has to come in and be that focal point for the discussion. What encouraged me from our meeting this week is that people turned up. They want to talk about these issues, they want to be part of that discussion, and they want to see their organization take the leadership role in that.
SPEAKER_01:If I may just pick up a little bit on that topic, um, IPC had a very interesting speaker that involved formerly with the head of the World Trade Organization. Anything additional you'd want to maybe elaborate as you think about the role and dynamics around these international institutions that you gathered from some of his presentation?
SPEAKER_02:The presentations we heard are suggesting that the old world order in trade is is gone, or certainly on its last legs. And the the future looks like a much more fragmented and individualized system, if you can call it a system. What worries me, and I think our members are looking at it in this way, is we're a global industry based on standardization, efficiency, productivity, that the systems are the same wherever you go in the world, or at least very recognizable. So how do we then as an industry go, wow, this new fragmented system, how do we fit in there? Can we fit in there? What's our new role? Can trade, the trade continue as was? We don't know. How can we have a voice here? Again, it comes for me, it comes back to leadership and how we start to present the industry as that reasonable, rational, sensible voice, just picking our way through these issues, the uncertainty. Business hates uncertainty, wants that consistency over the coming years. So we've got an opportunity here, and that's what our members are discussing at the moment, and that's what's really encouraged. So this is the positive side of the situation is yeah, we've got a load of challenges, but God, we've got a lot of positivity and really good people.
SPEAKER_01:Picking up on that theme of maybe the systems we've had and looking ahead to new technology, which was a key presentation, part of the International Poultry Council meeting, artificial intelligence, obviously a critical role there. Where do you see the greatest opportunities in the poultry sector, and importantly, along with that opportunities, but maybe responsibilities of how artificial intelligence is used, and how might those be adopted in the poultry sector as tools that help advance the industry?
SPEAKER_02:There's a number of areas, and they're all really exciting. These new technologies are artificial intelligence. I mean, on a practical level, we're already seeing companies with products that gather good data. If there's something that the poultry industry has got, it's data. We've got to make sure it's good data, using it to be more efficient, be more productive. Just that that very sort of business level. What really excites me though about this new technology is how we can apply it to issues and policy making. Because we have to get the right policies if business is going to thrive. But policy making is a is is a is a bit more intangible than than just a simple step-by-step process. Sometimes it's like nailing jelly to the wall. You can't get a grip of it. So how can we use artificial intelligence to actually inform our decision making, not make the decisions for us, but actually sort of say, look, where do we want to be in five years' time? And can artificial intelligence help us plot the path to get there? A lot of our our speakers in in this session about new technology kept coming up with human judgment. You need to keep human judgment. My point in the as you heard Dennis in the meeting was yeah, we want human judgment, but can it be used to eliminate human stupidity? The bad decisions. Action actually help just guide us, not decide for us, not tell us what to do, but help us move towards our targets.
SPEAKER_00:You had participation from all regions of the world in this meeting. What message would you take about the importance of global collaboration for food security and sustainability? What message do you take out to them about that?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think this is one of the great things about the International Poultry Council. It's that you do get that involvement from all around the world. And let's face it, this links back to One Health. This podcast is under the One Health banner. So we are all connected. All our operations are connected and all our issues are connected. It's not a case of solving one person, one country, doing something in isolation, and that's done. No. There's no chance of that. And this comes a bit back to the geopolitical troubles that we're going to face. But it really encourages me that we've got the enthusiasm to work together and really get that country by country involvement. Even if it's tough at times and we don't always agree, but there's there's generally a path that we can take that everybody can look at and go, you know what, that's a step forward for all of us.
SPEAKER_01:So think about the IPC. Obviously, the next big meeting is going to be coming up in Belfast in April of 2027. Um you got about 15 months between now and then and your leadership role. Under your presidency, which issues do you think will dominate uh the agenda, the conversations? And importantly, the point you're just making, how do we make sure we're coming together on those issues from an industry leadership standpoint?
SPEAKER_02:This is the multi-million dollar question, isn't it? So say saving up the the the that one for the end there. Um it's really tongue-in-cheek here, but 15 months to solve geopolitics, incorporate artificial intelligence and manage avian influenza on a global level. Yeah, we can do that. No, but seriously, no, the the the poultry industry is in a position where it can make really big strides in these topics. What we have to do is is give them the space to do it. We as organizations, trade associations, both on like a national level or a global level, are generally quite small. But what we can do is generate that discussion, link up with those key global stakeholders like Woa or FAO, or really sort of bring them to the table and say, look, this is what we, industry, this is what we need, where's the where's the where's the compromise here? Where's the where's the steps we can take? So we've got 15 months to really get those discussions underway, get that work going, and and then by the time we get to Belfast, which by the way is going to be amazing, everybody should come to Belfast. Make a point of it, 12th to the 15th of April, 2027. Um that we can be in a position to go, right, this is our direction, this is this is what what we as an industry want to do with taking steps forward to control our own destiny, not let those forces out there that that don't understand us decide what's right for us. This is this is important. Part of it, and part of it for me and the part of the presidency is about giving confidence to our members that we as an organization and we as an industry have got that confidence, got that you know what, we can do, we can do big things, we can we can solve these problems together.
SPEAKER_00:That's what final thoughts, key takeaways you want to leave our audience with here today?
SPEAKER_02:Oh gosh. Um I think poultry globally and in many countries around, we're in a good place. Let's not lose sight of that. We can't we're in demand, it's great protein, we are consumers trust us, we need to take that and build on it. So we're we've got a really good foundation. So whatever I say about the sort of doom and gloom of the uh the scary nature of the world at the moment, remember that we've got great product, we've got good trust, we've got great people. And let's let's I that's a real and I'd like to leave on that, is the people in the poultry industry are fantastic. And if anybody can solve these problems, they can.
SPEAKER_01:I think um picking up on Richard's thoughts there, I think, Sarah, as we think about the International Poultry Council and Richard's leadership role, what I'm really hearing is the importance of leadership by the private sector. IPC is well positioned to do that. Also, importantly, these international intergovernment organizations, as much as there's maybe challenges to the system, it's still going to take leadership, and organizations like IPC, International Poultry Council do need to work and collaborate with them and truly making sure we're leveraging our roles. And coming back to the core thing under the One Health concept, global food security, poultry is a critical, critical part in the protein component of that global food security. So great opportunities for the International Poultry Council, for the poultry sector, looking ahead in their role in advancing One Health.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much for joining us here today, Richard. We appreciate all your insight and thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00:Likewise, we want to thank all of you for being with us today on this episode of One Health Live. If you would like to hear more conversations on the issues of importance to animals, humans, and the environment, subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast channel. Until next time, have a great day, and thank you for listening.