As part of the USPOULTRY Foundation’s efforts to support recruitment and training of the brightest students and to promote careers in the poultry and egg industry, the finishing teams of the National FFA Poultry Evaluation Career Development Event (CDE) and the Food Science and Technology CDE were invited to the 2019 International Poultry Expo (IPE), part of the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, Ga.
The opportunity to participate was made possible in part by endowing Foundation gifts from Prestage Farms and Sanderson Farms for the Poultry Evaluation CDE teams and Pilgrim’s and Cargill for the Food Science CDE teams. More than 80 FFA student leaders and their advisors attended.
“Our Association has been a supporter of the FFA Poultry Evaluation CDE for some time, and now other CDEs and Poultry Efficiency contests. We believe attending IPPE is an excellent opportunity for these teams to see and experience the world’s largest annual trade show for the poultry, meat and animal food industries,” remarked Tom Hensley, Fieldale Farms, and USPOULTRY Foundation chairman.
Poultry industry leaders, John Prestage, senior vice president for Prestage Farms and current USPOULTRY chairman; Stacy Webb, training manager with Sanderson Farms; and Jesse Mortensen, talent and development director for Pilgrim’s, participated in a program that informed the students about the multitude of career opportunities in the industry. The students were also able to explore the vast trade show floor to see the exciting technology used by today’s modern, sustainable poultry industry.
The following Poultry Evaluation CDE teams were invited to attend the 2019 IPPE and are listed in their order of finish: Katy FFA, Texas; Farmington FFA, Arkansas; Prairie Central FFA, Illinois; Coweta FFA, Oklahoma; Brantley County FFA, Georgia; Caney FFA, Kansas; Assumption FFA, Louisiana; North Clackamas FFA, Oregon; Paris FFA, Missouri; Hillsdale FFA, Ohio; and Manor FFA, Pennsylvania.
The following Food Science and Technology CDE teams were invited to attend the 2019 IPPE and are listed in their order of finish: Big Walnut-DACC FFA, Ohio; Oley Valley FFA, Pennsylvania; Cambridge FFA, Idaho; Orlando Colonial FFA, Florida; Canyon New Braunfels FFA, Texas; Cashmere FFA, Washington; Lincoln FFA, Arkansas; Lawton FFA, Oklahoma; Triton FFA, North Carolina; and Napoleon FFA, North Dakota.
