OCEAN CITY, Md. — A major conference for the U.S. poultry industry, the 61st National Meeting on Poultry Health, Processing and Live Production, recently drew more than 430 attendees to Ocean City, Md.
The National Meeting is presented by Delmarva Chicken Association, the nonprofit trade group founded in 1948 to advocate for Delmarva’s chicken community. The conference kicked off on Sept. 15 at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center with a full day of speakers and panel discussions focusing on poultry health and processing. On Sept. 16, the conference continued while adding a focus on live production — the on-farm skills and science involved in raising healthy poultry flocks.
New to the conference this year was a student poster session, which allowed 19 students to showcase applied research that addresses real-world challenges facing the poultry industry, including food safety, biosecurity, welfare, diagnostics, nutrition, emerging technologies, sustainability, and One Health. The poster session was a unique opportunity for students to share their work with poultry veterinarians, industry leaders, processing professionals, diagnostic laboratories, allied industry, and academic experts from across the poultry sector.
Accepted student poster presenters received free meeting registration and were eligible for student poster awards. DCA also presented awards to outstanding flock advisors for the five Delmarva-based chicken companies.
“We are thrilled to welcome researchers, poultry professionals, government officials, chicken company employees, and students to the 61st National Meeting,” Dr. Michael Quist, Mountaire Farms, DCA’s National Meeting Planning Committee chairperson, said. “This conference offers an excellent chance for everyone in the poultry industry to stay informed about the latest research, as well as many other current topics affecting our industry. It’s a great chance to connect with colleagues and be inspired to advance the science of poultry.”
Todd Reed, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service deputy administrator for science and policy reviewed USDA priorities and plans at the conference. Other topics on the agenda included legal challenges in animal agriculture; innovative technologies in poultry processing; electronic record monitoring; producing chicken in HPAI’s “new normal” climate; ventilation basics in poultry houses; and lessons learned by experienced flock advisors.
“This conference is an important forum for veterinarians, processing facility managers, grow-out managers, live production managers, flock supervisors, allied businesses, government regulators and officials, research faculty and others involved in poultry to meet and share what’s new in their fields,” Holly Porter, DCA’s executive director, said. “We’re pleased that so many past attendees were eager to return to this meeting, and that others chose to experience it for the first time.”
At the start of the National Meeting, DCA also hosted its College Scholarship Golf Tournament at GlenRiddle Golf Club in Berlin, Md. The annual tournament devotes 100 percent of its proceeds to DCA’s College Scholarship Program, which earlier this year awarded scholarships totaling $30,000 to students pursuing careers in the chicken community.
