1980 to 1989

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1980s

• 1980 Poultry Person of the year: Dr Ella Barnes, OBE
• 1980 Alltech is founded by Dr Lyons
• 1980 Harvest Poultry Ltd is formed out of Crown Poultry Packers Ltd and Anglian Poultry Breeders Ltd
• 1980 Kemin discover a non-corrosive mould inhibitor preventing typical mould growth in process grains in storage (Myco Curb)
• 1980 First Inactivated vaccine against Gumboro licenced
• 1980 Cargill USA enter UK poultry industry by acquiring Sun Valley Poultry Ltd
• 1981 Derek & Mollie Kelly of Kelly Turkeys appear on the BBC’s Generation Game (right)
• 1981 Commercial Broilers 423.9 million, Commercial Layers 44.5 million, Turkeys 24.27 million
• 1981 Babcock is sold by AH Robbins to Institut de Selection Animal (ISA)
• 1981 Dalgety Agriculture acquires Sainsbury Spillers Feed Company including production and packing centre in East Anglia
• 1981 Robert (Bob) Gordon dies
• 1981 Unigate Foods Ltd purchase Turners Turkeys Ltd, Spalding
• 1981 Poultry Person of the year: Miss. Rosalind Bicknell
• 1982 Imperial Tobacco Ltd sells all its poultry and animal feed interests to a relatively new private company – Hillsdown Holdings (right)
• 1982 Commercial Broilers 439.3 million, Commercial Layers 42.5 million, Turkeys 27.84 million
• 1982 Colborn-Dawes becomes Roche
• 1982 Gordon Memorial Lecture is established. The Robert Fraser Gordon Memorial Trust is established and is recognised as a charity. The Trust’s primary function is to select each year a person who has made distinguished contributions to a branch of poultry science. The recipient of the award is required to deliver a lecture and receives a medal (right) to commemorate the occasion. The Gordon Memorial Lecture is held each year at the Annual Spring Meeting of the UK Branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association
• 1982 Poultry Person of the year: Mr Neville Wallace
• 1983 Commercial Broilers 434.8 million, Commercial Layers 42.5 million, Turkeys 28.26 million
• 1993 Rhone Merieux is established
• 1983 Tony Barnes becomes President of Cobb
• 1983 Harvest Poultry Ltd is taken over by Hillsdown Holdings PLC
• 1983 Traditional Farm Fresh Turkey Association is established
• 1983 Last BOCM Poultry Fair held at Stoke Mandeville Before moving to its new home at the RASE exhibition Centre at Stoneleigh
• 1983 Ross 208, 308 and PM3 introduced
• 1983 Thames Valley Eggs move to Membury becoming Europes then largest egg packing operation 
• 1983 First Gordon Memorial Lecture is delivered by Prof Peter Long
• 1983 Poultry Person of the year: Mr Dennis Cummings
• 1984 Commercial Broilers 465.1 million, Commercial Layers 40.6 million, Turkeys 29.07 million
• 1984 “The Birth of The Bronze” – Bronze turkeys from the Kelly Farms Rare Breeds Collection were identified by a local butcher as having superior flavour. Derek embarked on a programme of expanding bronze numbers and registered the “KellyBronze”
• 1984 Pauls is acquired by Harrison & Crosfield PLC (Now Elementis PLC)
• 1984 Unigate acquire JP Wood from Unilever
• 1984 Goldenlay marketing initiative discontinued 
• 1984 The first appearance of Salmonella enteritidis phage type (PT) 4 in the UK
• 1984 Jeff Vergerson started Countryside Products with 500 Free Range Chickens growing the business to become the largest specialist free range egg packing operation in Europe
• 1984 European Poultry Fair transfers to NAC Stoneleigh
• 1984 Cobb 500 introduced to the US market through Arkansas breeders, a joint venture with Tyson Foods
• 1984 23 outbreaks of Newcastle disease in chickens confirmed between Jan and July
• 1984 Poultry Person of the year: Mr Bernard Matthews
• 1985 Commercial Broilers 487.8 million, Commercial Layers 39.5 million, Turkeys 29.78 million
• 1985 Hillsdown Holdings goes public
• 1985 Shaver fully acquired by Cargill
• 1985 Imposition of milk production quotas
• 1985 Poultry Person of the year: Mr Olaf Swarbrick
• 1986 British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) is established (right). The BEIC is an inter-professional organisation of 11 trade associations in the UK, which cover all aspects of the egg industry – breeding, hatching, rearing, laying, packing, egg processing and marketing. It is funded by voluntary contributions from egg producers and packers and is made up of the major trade associations from the different subdivisions and geographical regions of the UK industry. The principal function of the BEIC is to represent the interests of its Members (the UK egg industry) in discussions with Government, MPs, the European Commission, European Parliament, and other bodies. BEIC also set up and runs the British Egg Information Service (BEIS) to provide information and answer questions about eggs. The BEIS distributes leaflets and recipe books, nutrition and food safety information, recipes and specific materials for the general public, teachers, caterers, health professionals and students. BEIC also finances research and development. BEIC is recognised by Government and Parliament as the representative voice of the UK egg industry
• The 11 representative Trade Associations are:
• British Egg Products Association (BEPA)
• British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA)
• National Egg Marketing Association Ltd (NEMAL)
• National Farmers’ Union (England and Wales) (NFU)
• National Farmers’ Union (Scotland) (NFUS)
• Northern Ireland Poultry Breeders and Hatcheries Association (NIPBHA)
• Pullet Hatcheries Association (PHA) Pullet Rearers’ Association (PRA)
• Scottish Egg Producers Retailers Association (SEPRA)
• Ulster Farmers Union (UFU)
• BEIC is funded exclusively by a voluntary levy on a number of packers and producer/packers who between them represent more than 85% of egg output in the UK. These ‘Subscribers’ to the BEIC adhere to the Lion Code of Practice, which sets higher standards of both hygiene and animal welfare than is currently required by UK or EU law. (Currently, more than 95% of free range and organic egg production is to ‘Lion’ standards, plus almost all barn production)
• 1986 Commercial Broilers 528.3 million, Commercial Layers 38.1 million, Turkeys 33.49 million
• 1986 Furazolidone is removed from poultry feed
• 1986 Sun Valley is the first company to produce and market fresh branded Chicken Kiev in the UK
• 1986 Tyson Foods acquires a 50% stake in the Cobb business. The new company, called Cobb-Vantress Inc, united Cobb with the Vantress breed that Tyson had also acquired
• 1986 Antec International (now Chemours) introduce VirkonTM S a disinfectant effective against 500 disease- causing viruses, bacteria, and fungi
• 1986 First recorded case of BSE in cattle in UK
• 1986 Thames Valley Eggs acquire egg processor Dell Foods 
• 1987 Commercial Broilers 595.7 million, Commercial Layers 38.5 million, Turkeys 35.12 million
• 1987 J Bibby & Sons is purchased by Hillsdown feed subsidiary Nitrovit, creating a 1.2 million tonne per year feed combination
• 1987 With PD Hooks hatchery now producing 320,000 chicks a week the company started concentrating on sales to large processors such as Hinton, Webb and Webb/Pershore Packers
• 1987 Queens Award for export achievement is awarded to Ross Poultry 1987 New regulations require hatching eggs to be stamped
• 1987 South West Chicken Association is founded to fill a widely felt need for an opportunity for all members of the Industry to meet regularly at technical and social events
• 1987 Poultry Person of the year: Mr Aled Griffiths
• 1988 Commercial Broilers 635.5 million, Commercial Layers 37.4 million, Turkeys 36.06 million
• 1988 Elanco introduce Narasin to the US market
• 1988 Thames Valley Eggs acquire Curwin Poultry 
• 1988 British Poultry Museum opens at Stoneleigh
• 1988 Creation of Sanofi Sante Nutrition Animale
• 1988 Pfizer renames its Agricultural Division – Pfizer Animal Health
• 1988 Dalgety purchases Goldenlay Eggs
• 1988 Clinacox is approved for use in Turkey rations
• 1988 ISA acquires Shaver from Cargill
• 1988 ISA acquires Babcock from the USA
• 1988 Anitox develops formaldehyde treatment Termin-8 to remove pathogens including salmonella from feed
• 1988 Poultry Person of the year: Mr John Maunder (right)
• 1988 Junior Health Minister Edwina Currie warns the British public that most of the egg production in the UK is affected by Salmonella (right).
• 1989 – Commercial Broilers 587 million, Commercial Layers 34 million, Turkeys 36.7 million
• 1989 Cobb Breeding Company gains its first Queen’s Awards for Exports
• 1989 Anitox introduces Termin-8 in Europe
• 1989 Legislation is introduced which requires compulsory testing and slaughter of Salmonella infected flocks. Egg consumption drops by 20 eggs per person
• 1989 Elanco introduce Narasin/Nicarbazin to the market
• 1989 Thames Valley Eggs acquire egg processor Dale Farm Foods 
• 1989 JF McKenna becomes a supplier of Fancom products in the UK
• 1989 Close to 100 members of United Kingdom Egg Producers Association (UKEPRA)  vote to continue legal action against Edwina Currie, but the cost of such action (up to £500,000) negates further development 
• 1989 First live intermediate Gumboro vaccine licenced
• 1989 Ross introduce X-ray & ultrasound technologies for improved selection
• 1989 Poultry Person of the year: Mr John Farrant (right)