James Girdler, Account Manager

Department: Poultry

As one of the ForFarmers recently appointed account managers, we caught up with James Girdler on his new role and focus on organic layer feeds.

Tell us a little about your new role?

I work within the Poultry Sales team as an Account Manager, specialising in organic laying hens.

My role is focused on supporting organic producers nationally, helping them to maximise the performance of their pullets and laying hens. I’m also involved with building and implementing the ForFarmers UK strategies for organic layers and turkey.

Tell us about your focus on Organic feed?

My focus is getting the message out there that ForFarmers do organic!

We now have a strong organic offering that we have confidence in. This year we extended the range to Portbury mill, in addition to Selby and Penrith, meaning we can now supply the new organic diets nationally.

The producers I work with have been thrilled with the improvements they are seeing on farm from feeding the VitaFocus organic regime. Many comments have focused on the feed form, the mash flows very well through feeding systems, with less wastage. Seeing improvements in shell quality, superior feather cover, and seeing fewer seconds.

Can you describe a typical day at work?

There’s a lot of variety which keeps the job interesting. A typical day or week at work would involve visiting existing organic layer customers to provide support on farm (e.g. nutritional advice, weighing birds) as well as meeting potential new customers across the country.

Whilst in the office, I run our group project meetings across the turkey and organic layer sectors. Further to keeping myself up to date with organic legislation and the latest developments within the industry.

What do you enjoy about working at ForFarmers?

One of the most rewarding aspects of the job for me is seeing the results first-hand on farm. There’s no better feeling than working with a producer and seeing that end result – healthy birds thriving and a farmer who’s chuffed with the help you’ve provided.

I can certainly say I feel like a valued member of the team at ForFarmers. There’s a wealth of knowledge and support whenever you need it.