An invitation to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony for TARGAN, Inc.’s production facility in Raleigh, NC, on September 12, 2023, came on the heels of the announcement by TARGAN that the company had signed a multi-year partnership with Wayne-Sanderson to incorporate TARGAN’s automated feather sexing systems into several of the broiler integrator’s hatcheries. Speaking at the event, Ramin Karimpour, CEO and founder, TARGAN, thanked his investors, employees and others who provided help and support on the 7-year journey which turned the idea into working hatchery automation solutions.
He also thanked the state of North Carolina for a US$65,000 grant the company (formerly called Applied LifeSciences & Systems) received early on and for the winning US $1million ticket from the North Carolina Education Lottery he purchased. The winning ticket came at a time of indecision on what his future might hold and Karimpour said he saw it as sign to continue working to build a company.
Unique hatchery automation
TARGAN’s system for feather sexing broiler chicks can process 100,000 chicks per hour with an accuracy of 95% or greater, according to statements made at the event. The company is also developing a system for individually applying a drop of coccidia vaccine in the eye of chicks, also at a rate of 100,000 per hour.
Wayne-Sanderson Farms installed the first feather sexing system in its Kinston, North Carolina, hatchery and the system was used to sort the September 11, 2023, hatch. A second system will be installed at the hatchery serving the St. Pauls, North Carolina, complex in the near future. Wayne-Sanderson Farms managers in attendance at the event explained that when fully operational, the feather sexing systems will allow for all of the male chicks from both hatcheries to be raised and processed at the big bird complex in Kinston and the females will be raised and processed at the fresh (tray pack) complex in St. Pauls.
Poultry Tech Summit alumni
The concepts for TARGAN’s hatchery automation solutions first came to my attention when Karimpour submitted to present at the 2020 Poultry Tech Summit. The Summit was online in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic and Karimpour’s presentation video is still viewable. TARGAN’s success is certainly not unique. The Poultry Tech Summit Hall of Fame features all of the Innovation presentations made at the 2018 through 2022 Summits as well as links to articles highlighting the progress of these ideas/products as they advance towards commercialization and adoption by poultry producers.
The quote, “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration,” is sometimes attributed to Thomas Edison. My takeaway from the five Poultry Tech Summits (three in-person and two virtual) that WATT Global Media has produced is that successful commercialization of an innovative idea relies as much on collaboration as it does on the idea itself. No one understands the needs and challenges facing poultry breeders, growers, processors and distributors better than the professionals who work in the industry every day, and their input is an essential piece in the process of developing practical new technological solutions to industry problems.
We invite you to join us at the 2023 Poultry Tech Summit in Atlanta November 6-8, and take part in the discussion and collaborate to help bring new technologies forward to solve industry challenges. Be prepared to share your thoughts, discuss field trial opportunities and get a forward look at how these innovations will shape the future of poultry production, processing and distribution.
Attend the 2023 Poultry Tech Summit
Join an exclusive international gathering of industry-changing innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs, technology experts, investors and leading poultry producers at the 2023 edition of Poultry Tech Summit on November 6-8 at the Hilton Atlanta Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.
Attendees can expect the same groundbreaking innovation and insightful presentations that made the previous events well-attended with deep dialogue on new prospective solutions and next-generation technologies. Poultry Tech Summit focuses on the transition of innovative technologies into commercial applications to advance the poultry industry.
Registration for this event is now open. Early bird savings are available until September 29th.
