A former contract grower for Moy Park pleaded guilty to two charges of importing amoxicillin, an unauthorized veterinary antibiotic in Northern Ireland.
His sentencing is set to take place later this year in Dungannon Crown Court.
According to a Sunday World report, Hobson was named Moy Park’s farmer of the year award six years ago, but the company has since severed ties with him.
While Hobson expressed regret while he was speaking to the publication, he did say using the unauthorized antibiotic was something he thought was in the best interest of the chickens.
“It’s hard to get a (veterinarian) and I have so many birds, so I thought this would be quicker and would be better for the welfare of the birds,” Hobson said. “But it’s turned out to have been a very expensive mistake, I was suspended and lost all my birds. I was only interested in the welfare of the birds, nothing else.”
Hobson’s LinkedIn profile lists his work experience as an “essential chicken producer” for Moy Park, and that his experience dates back to 1986. The profile also lists that he received his education at the University of Ulster.
A spokesperson for Moy Park told the Sunday World “Paul Hobson will never supply Moy Park again.”
The company also said that it believed that the use of an unauthorized antibiotic was an isolated incident and that consumers could have confidence that no other growers for Moy Park used amoxicillin.
Moy Park, according to the Poultry International Top Companies survey, is the second largest poultry producer in the United Kingdom and the eighth largest in Europe. During the past year, it 320 million broilers.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation purchased Moy Park from JBS in 2017. Two years prior to that, JBS purchased Moy Park from Marfrig Global Foods.
