A farm vet from North Yorkshire has been honoured with a national award for her outstanding dedication to the profession.

Emma King, who works at Poultry Health Services (PHS), has been named the Young Farm Vet of the Year in the prestigious National Egg & Poultry Awards 2023.

The accolade recognizes Emma's significant contributions to poultry producers in the region and celebrates excellence within the egg and poultry sector.

Emma serves as the lead vet for the northeast region at PHS, which is one of the largest commercial poultry and game bird veterinary practices in the UK.

The practice offers a wide range of services to clients, including diagnostic testing, performance and data reviews, farm visits, and post-mortems.

Emma took a break from her clinical work to gain practical on-farm experience, enabling her to enhance her knowledge and expertise.

This experience has proven invaluable when working with farmers to develop preventative health plans for flocks and providing training on practical biosecurity improvements.

Emma also runs internship programmes for new poultry vets, trains junior colleagues, and imparts clinical skills to veterinarians who only work with poultry occasionally, such as during outbreaks of Avian Influenza.

Sara Perez, the veterinary director of PHS, said: “The competition for the Young Farm Vet award is tough as every year there are good candidates, so to get to the final stage is an achievement in itself.

“I am very proud of Emma as she is a humble, approachable, very hard-working and knowledgeable vet. Her colleagues and clients nominated her as a way of recognition for the work that she does every day for them.”

Emma fulfilled a childhood dream when she graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2016.

She has since pursued further education and received a post-graduate diploma in Population Health Sciences.

Emma is also actively involved in various industry committees and research projects, including her work with the APHA Avian Expert Group and BVPA Committee, as well as externships at the prestigious Poultry Diagnostic and Research Centre at the University of Georgia.

Emma said: “It is lovely to win the award and it means so much to have been nominated by clients, people in my team and my boss because if those people think I am doing a great job that’s the most important thing for me.”

Emma was one of three finalists shortlisted for the Young Farm Vet award, alongside Esme Chapman of Howells Veterinary Services and Katerina Theakou of Crowshall Veterinary Services.

The winners were announced at a ceremony held on July 11, 2023.