ALPHARETTA, GA—Adisseo USA has selected the University of Georgia as the first partnering university for Poultry Leaders of Tomorrow, an invitation-only educational event for poultry science and veterinary students, which brings together leaders in poultry academia and industry from around the country to discuss prominent industry issues and enable the development of collaborative solutions.
The three-day event, to be held October 6-8, 2017 in Athens, Ga., will focus on the rising challenge of woody breast.
Spearheading the program curriculum at UGA is Todd Applegate, head of UGA’s Poultry Science Program, who praised Adisseo’s commitment to education and collaboration.
“It’s very important for industry and academia to get together and talk about what I call the big hairy problems facing this industry,” Applegate said. “We are becoming more technical, which requires industry leaders to gather significant input from various specialties in order to fully understand the breadth of these challenges. We chose woody breast as the topic of this session because of the timeliness of the issue and the cross-discipline collaboration needed to find solutions.”
Specific topics to be covered during the weekend event include the cellular and molecular approach to woody breast, triggers of woody breast and the real impact of the phenomenon on the poultry industry. Presenting speakers include Nick Hudson, University of Queensland; Walter Bottje and Casey Owens, University of Arkansas; Sandy Velleman, Ohio University; Mike Persia, Virginia Tech; Rob Shirley, Adisseo; Harsha Thippareddi, University of Georgia; Sriram Krishna, Cobb-Vantress; and Brian Bowker and Hong Zhuang, USDA-ARS.
“It is vital for companies to look beyond commercial targets and play an active role in not only promoting education and collaboration, but in attracting newcomers to the poultry industry,” said Felipe Navarro, Director of Marketing, Addiseo USA. “By investing time and resources, and building closer relationships with academia, we are helping recruit and train the professionals who will be responsible for producing protein for future generations.”
Navarro confirmed that is it Adisseo’s intent to sponsor the Poultry Leaders of Tomorrow program at other universities in the United States, with UGA’s event to serve as the pilot program. Poultry Leaders of Tomorrow is not the company’s first educational program to promote education and foster cooperation between agriculture leaders. The company’s Amino Acid University program, which is held two to three times a year, provides industry-specific educational opportunities for students working toward doctorate or master’s degrees in ruminant nutrition.
“Regardless of the area of discipline, graduate students need to participate in open discussions in order to collectively address the problems their industry is facing.” said Applegate.
About Adisseo
Adisseo is one of the world's leading experts in feed additives. The group relies on its 7 research centers and its production sites based in Europe and China to design, produce and market nutritional solutions for sustainable animal feed. With more than 1,900 employees, it serves around 2,600 customers in over 100 different countries through its global distribution network. In 2016, Adisseo achieved a turnover of over 1.456 billion Euros. Adisseo is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and is one of the main subsidiaries of China National BlueStar, leader in the Chinese chemical industry with nearly 25,000 employees and a turnover of 6.4 billion euros in 2016. Adisseo Corporate website: http://www.adisseo.com
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