Farmlay recruit brings fresh energy and a lifelong love of poultry

William is 22 years old and grew up on a pig and poultry farm in Perthshire, where an early fascination with poultry set him on the path to a career in agriculture.

He joined Farmlay prior to completing his degree in Agriculture and Farm Business Management at Harper Adams University, from which he graduated last month.

His route into farming has taken him across a range of settings. As a teenager he spent several summers at Woodbank Farm, a strawberry farm close to home, picking up early experience with cattle and arable work alongside the fruit picking.

William has also spent time working with his father in Morspan Construction, which supplies specialist steel framed poultry sheds, giving him a practical, hands-on understanding of the buildings that house flocks across the industry.

William’s placement year was a role with poultry genetics and research company Aviagen where he spent six months on Aviagen’s farming base, three months in the hatchery and a further three months overseas gaining valuable knowledge and hands on experience.

This experience of working in poultry breeding taught him a great deal and helped him discover where his real interest lay.

When William began looking for a role in the poultry industry he was already aware of the Farmlay business and it felt like a natural fit, combined with relevant experience from the placement year, all helping to open the door to William joining the team this year.

Iain Chapman, managing director at Farmlay, said: “We’ve been looking to fill this role for a while but we wanted to wait for the right person. William stood out because he has a passion for the poultry business and a keen interest in new technology; he’s got that knowledge and he's got an interest in the whole farm as, including the arable, which is what I was really looking for.”

William is going to be close to the heart of everything in this role and has his accommodation at Farmlay's rearing farm at Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire. Now settled into life at Farmlay, William says he has been struck by the scale and ambition of the family business.

“It’s a really good family business, with three generations involved. There’s so much progression in the business, and they really involve the whole team in their decisions. Nice to work with and no two days are the same,” he said.

Christine James has been with Farmlay for six years, including the last two as poultry manager and has been central to William's introduction and training for his new role in the business.

Helping a new team member settle into the business is important to Christine and she has been supporting him closely since he arrived in the summer and most mornings, the pair are working together.

William is finding his feet with the new job and described her as “Supportive and good at explaining the Farmlay system. She is an invaluable source of knowledge with all her experience of working with hens.”

William enjoys the variety and versatility of his new role, along with the technology used across the business. He has the opportunity to get involved in all aspects of the farm, from poultry to arable and cattle work.

He describes Farmlay as “progressive, expansive and full of opportunity,” pointing to plans for a new mill among the developments he is excited to be part of.

Beyond his day-to-day work with the flock, William enjoys time on the tractor and being outdoors among the rolling hills and views of Aberdeenshire.

“There is something rather nostalgic about being sat on a tractor during harvest time, and that always lifts the mood,” he said.

Outside of work, William has settled well into life in Aberdeenshire, describing it as feeling like home thanks to its peaceful surroundings and friendly people. He has joined Ellon Rugby Club and become involved with Strichen Young Farmers, Farmlay's local club, while continuing to visit family regularly and welcoming friends to the area.

William's arrival comes at an exciting time as the business continues to invest in its people, its flock and its facilities.

Today, the Chapman family pack over seven million of the highest quality eggs every week and produce 40 % of them in house, working closely with surrounding farmers and supplying Lidl, Aldi, Spar, Costco and a number of other retailers and wholesalers across Scotland.

Alongside its poultry operation, the family farms 2000 acres of cereals, made up of winter and spring barley, winter oilseed rape and winter wheat, and runs 230 commercial suckler cows at its 2,700 acre Cockmuir Farm, near Strichen.

The family continues to invest heavily in both environment and welfare, recently planting more than 10,000 trees to enhance the hens' habitat, alongside solar, biomass and wind-powered renewable energy across its sites, most recently adding a 2MWh battery storage unit to use even more of the home-produced electricity.

A £3.5 million investment in the packing centre in 2025 has added a second state of the art egg grader and further robot to the six already in use in the grading facility, a palletiser with four pallet positions was installed earlier this year to increase efficiency and throughput further.

Looking at the wider industry, William is optimistic about the opportunities poultry farming offers, particularly for young people.

“You don’t need to own a farm to have a career in agriculture,” he said. “There are plenty of roles and opportunities to get involved.”

With a strong interest in the modern technology, which is increasingly shaping the sector, he is keen to see where his career with Farmlay takes him next.

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