Alabama Poultry, July/August 2013

Randall Ennis Takes Charge

Board of Directors Officers Randall Ennis, President, Huntsville* Dale Gambrill, Vice President, Snead* Tim Esslinger, Treasurer, Eufaula* Harold Hunt, Secretary, Gadsden* Johnny Adcock, Immediate Past President, Woodland* Directors George Attwood, Anniston Dale Carroll, Huntsville Chris Carter, Guntersville Richard Curvin, Montgomery Cory Early, Albertville Billy Gilley, Cullman Ben Gore, Cullman Matthew Herman, Enterprise Heath Loyd, Decatur Dennis Maze, Horton Todd McMahen, Dothan Dr. Shannon Morgan, Birmingham Mitchell Pate, Auburn* Mike Pigg, Cullman John Pittard, Guntersville John Roberts, Cullman Keith Rhodarmer, Collinsville Kenneth Sanders, Brundidge* Roddy Sanders, Gordo Jason Shell, Gadsden Jason Spann, Hanceville Ken Taylor, Anniston Ben Thompson, Huntsville David Thompson, Ashland Stanley Usery, Athens Scott Varner, Russellville Ricky Walker, Snead Brad Williams, Troy Advisors Dr. Don Conner, Auburn University James Donald, Auburn University Dr. Joe Hess, Auburn University Jacob Davis, Montgomery Dr. Tony Frazier, Montgomery Perry Oakes, Auburn *Executive Committee Members

AP&EA STAFF

President’s Message First off, let me begin by saying what an honor it is to assume the role of president for the upcoming year. I have been directly involved in the Association for over 25 years, whether serving on committees, serving as a board member, or just giving support in any way that has been asked. When asked to serve on the Executive Committee four years ago, I accepted without hesitation despite my travel pressures and responsibilities as CEO of Aviagen.

You see, it is not only an obligation, but is an honor to give back to an industry that has provided all of us a livelihood and has given us a chance to be a part of something special. How many people can say that they are involved in feeding the world an affordable protein and a part of supplying jobs and opportunities for countless families?

I am in awe of the pioneers of this industry and the courage it took for them to take a backyard operation into vertically integrated machines. In this state alone, names such as McElrath, Durbin, Sylvest, Ingram, and Hickman are just a handful of these men who helped transform our industry into what it is today.

But they, as well as leaders in this industry today, had a vision and were not afraid to follow it and have persevered through good times as well as bad times. Each of us is in this industry for different reasons. Some of us grew up on the farm, some of us worked around agriculture or came from farming communities, some of us, like myself, saw the opportunities that were available for growth and advancement. But regardless of the underlying reason, this industry has done an awesome job of developing and promoting the successes and advantages of chicken, and we are all a part of continuing this legacy.

I am proud of our industry and the advancements made over the past 40 years. We are the number one agricultural commodity in the state and one of the top producers of poultry in the nation and we have nothing to be ashamed of. We unfairly get attacked by extremist groups and organizations with personal agendas, but we work in an industry that has high standards in welfare and employee satisfaction, and should be proud of what we do and accomplish each day.

Lastly, I am humbled to be able to serve as president and can only hope to measure up to those before me. Guys like Gerald Bailey, Jack Sherwood, Fred Cespedes, Roddy Sanders, Ricky Walker, Roger Chappell, Galen Grace, John Pittard, and most recently Johnny Adcock and the list goes on and on. In this role, I vow to you to serve with integrity and enthusiasm and support Johnny and the APEA staff in any way I can and hope I can represent our association, and you as its members, in a way fitting of the guys before me.

Johnny Adams – Executive Director Wanda H. Linker – Administrative Director Ray Hilburn – Membership Director Huck Carroll – Communications Director/Editor Jennifer Shell – Support Director Alabama Poultry Magazine is published by the Alabama Poultry & Egg Association 465 South Bainbridge Street Montgomery, AL 36104 Phone: 334-265-2732 Fax: 334-265-0008 Send editorial and advertising correspondence to: Alabama Poultry Magazine Editor P.O. Box 240 Montgomery, AL 36101 Advertising rates and closing dates available upon request.

Editorial matter from sources outside AP&EA is sometimes presented for the information and interest of our members. Such material may or may not coincide with official AP&EA policy. Publication does not necessarily imply endorsement by AP&EA.

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Featuring This Issue Governmental Affairs

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4

Association News

pg.

6

The Passing of Friends: Bill Bates

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8

AP&EA Annual Meeting

pg.

1

AP&EA Presidential Profile: Randall Ennis

pg. 17

Recipe / A Tailgating Favorite

pg. 24

Poultry Industry News

pg. 25

Auburn Poultry Science Scholarships

pg. 26

Practical Applications

pg. 27

Calendar of Events

pg. 30

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Governmental Affairs

Chicken Industry Defends Its Safety Record

from www.meatinghouse.com

Many Alabamians were shocked recently by reports on local television of so-called labor abuses and unsafe working conditions in state poultry processing plants. These allegations have been brought by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center. The National Chicken Council is addressing those bogus claims.

The National Chicken Council (NCC) is defending its safety record in response to a new push by a coalition of civil rights groups to alter USDA’s proposed poultry rule changes that include faster processing line speeds.

The groups, led by the Southern Poverty Law Center, petitioned the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the USDA to jointly set line speed limits in poultry and meat processing plants.

They argue OSHA should be involved in setting limits based on concerns over worker safety.

NCC, in a statement emailed to Meatingplace, said the industry’s injury and illness rate has decreased 75 percent over the past 20 years. It provided figures that show the chicken industry injury rate of 5.8 per 100 full-time workers compares favorably with a rate of 6.4 for all animal slaughter workers and 5.6 for the entire foodmanufacturing sector.

“We take the health and safety of workforce very seriously,” NCC said.

Industry efforts to improve worker safety were documented in a report released earlier this year, Ergonomics in the Poultry Industry – A Review of 25 Years of Industry Efforts*, that refuted earlier safety claims by the Southern Poverty Law Center and others.

The American Meat Institute (AMI) also defended the safety record of meat and poultry companies over the past two decades and said assertions that the industry is “notoriously dangerous” can’t be supported by federal data. It is not in meat companies’ best interests to operate at speeds that cannot produce high-quality product,

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AMI said.

“Miscuts are very expensive, and injuries to workers are precisely what we work to avoid every day,” AMI Senior Director of Worker Safety J. Dan McCausland said in a statement.

When considering line speeds, factors such as the size of the crew on the line must be considered, AMI continued. For example, a line operating at a particular speed with a crew of three may be moving too quickly, but that speed may be safe with two additional crew members, AMI said.

USDA’s proposed rule change would increase poultry processing line speeds to a maximum of 175 birds per minute from the current 140-bird maximum.

The civil rights groups’ latest effort to influence the outcome of USDA’s proposed rule to modernize poultry slaughter inspections comes as the Government Accountability Office on Wednesday released a report suggesting the information USDA relied on for its proposal had certain limitations.

“As a result, stakeholders did not have complete and accurate information to inform their comments on the proposed rule and its potential impacts,” the GAO report said.

NCC, in a separate statement responding to the GAO report, said it agreed with the

agency’s conclusions that strengths of the modernized poultry inspection system include giving plants responsibility and flexibility for ensuring food safety and quality and allowing USDA inspectors to focus more on food safety activities.

Ashley Peterson, NCC vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs, said USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has already updated the analyses used to support the proposed rule, and the results continue to support moving forward with it. FSIS will present the updated analyses with it issues the final rule, she noted. * To read more about the ergonomics report, visit our website at www.alabamapoultry.org for a link to the report.

Alabama Poultry Magazine

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Association News

CAP&EA Holds Meeting GREENVILLE – The Central Alabama Poultry & Egg Association held its quarterly meeting on Aug. 15, at Beeland Park.

Before the meeting, a meal of fried chicken with all the fixin’s was provided and enjoyed.

The meeting was called to order by CAP&EA President Michael Oglesby.

He introduced the first speaker, Dr. Joe Hess of Auburn’s department of poultry science and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Dr. Hess spoke on the topic Chick Quality and Early Performance.

He began by acknowledging that not all chick flocks are of equal quality coming from the hatchery, but explained that there were things that growers could do to maximize each flock’s potential.

The most important thing, he stressed, was to make the chicks as comfortable as possible as quickly as possible. He recommended heating the house to 90 degrees at least 24 hours before introducing the chicks. This will

Dr. Joe Hess addressed the issue of chick quality.

ensure that both water and feed are at the same temperature.

He said that having early access to feed and water was essential for gut health.

Maintaining litter quality is also an essential that he stressed. Dry litter is important to prevent paw problems.

After Dr. Hess, Guy Hall, ALFA Poultry Division Director, discussed

ALFA’s proposed voluntary poultry checkoff program. He said that checkoffs are a way that farmers can fund and direct their needs for research, education and promotion of their commodity.

He also said that if a majority of poultry growers wanted to form a voluntary checkoff program that ALFA is willing to help.

It does not pay to be late in the serving line at a CAP&EA meeting, especially when it is catered by Rebecca Duncan.

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Alabama Poultry Magazine

Marshall County Holds Annual Meeting

Scholarship winners (left to right): Devon Mason, Taylor Hilley, Savannah Hilley, Rhea Hill, Charlee Halligan, Bronson Edmonds, Heather Burks and Amy Burks

GUNTERSVILLE – On Friday, Aug. 2, the Marshall County Poultry & Egg Association held it annual meeting at Civitan Park on beautiful Lake Guntersville. The packed pavilion feasted on barbecue chicken and watched as Dwight Williams, serving as emcee for the evening, presented eight outstanding students with MCP&EA scholarship checks of $500 each.

This long standing tradition provides scholarships to children of Marshall County poultry growers. The students attend a number of different colleges with a diversity of majors.

The scholarships were provided from the proceeds of tickets purchased in a raffle for a John Deere Gator, sponsored in part by Coker Tractor Co. The Gator was won this year by Johnny Jackson, shown in the photo with his buddy, Clay Reagan, and members of the MCP&EA board.

Bobcat of Oxford Holds Last Meeting OXFORD – At a multi-county poultry meeting at his Oxford Bobcat showroom, Kenneth Clark informed the gathering that he was closing his business as of Aug. 31, 2013.

Clark has been an AP&EA VIP sponsor for several years, including this year’s annual meeting. We appreciate his efforts to support the Association.

He will begin working with a John Deere dealership in September, and we wish him well.

After a barbecue supper, newlyelected AP&EA president Randall Ennis of Aviagen spoke to the group on the challenges facing the poultry indus-

Kenneth Clark

Rep. Steve Hurst

try and how primary breeders like Aviagen were working to develop lines that would be more profitable for growers.

He also talked about the need to get more young people involved in the poultry industry.

Alabama Rep. Steve Hurst from Talladega spoke of his life growing up on a poultry farm in rural Talladega County, and his appreciation for the

Alabama Poultry Magazine

Guy Hall

contribution to the state’s economy that poultry makes. He pledged his continued support for the industry.

Guy Hall of ALFA gave a presentation on starting a voluntary checkoff program for poultry, similar to the voluntary checkoff program in the beef industry.

A door prize of a radio-controlled toy Bobcat was given.

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The Passing of Friends

Turkey Grower, Restauranteur and Poultry Ambassador, Bill Bates, Dead at 89 Bill Bates, 89, the last commercial turkey grower in Alabama has died. Bill, an Alabama Poultry Hall of Fame member, had battled leukemia for a number of years. He passed away Monday, Aug.26. His wife of 67-years, Teresa, three sons; Pete, John and Thomas, two daughters; Rebecca and Jane; and numerous grandchildren and greatgrandchildren survive him.

Over the years, Bill had become famous for annually taking a long series of turkeys, all named Clyde, to Alabama governors at Thanksgiving for pardoning. This year, for the first time since 1949, Bill missed the event due to a scheduling conflict with the governor. His son, Thomas, made the presentation on Bill’s behalf.

The turkey business really did not start out to be a business at all. It started out as just a wedding gift to Bill’s father, W. C. Bates. In1923, Great-aunt Mamie Bates presented him and his new bride with nine turkey eggs. In those days, raising poultry usually fell to the farmer’s wife, and Bill’s mother, Helen Hudson Bates, took to it with gusto. It was to pay unforeseen dividends in the coming years.

In 1935, with the Great Depression gripping Alabama, the Bates family stood to lose their farm when their prime cash crop, cotton, dropped to a nickel a pound. Fortunately, the turkey flock had grown from those nine eggs to approximately 200 birds. The bank accepted the turkeys as collateral on the farm

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by valuing them at seventy-five cents apiece.

During World War II, Bill served in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Originally ordered to fly supplies from India over the treacherous Himalaya Mountains into China against the Japanese, he proved to be so good at flying by navigational instruments, the Army brought him back to the training base in California and assigned him the duty of teaching other pilots how to fly using instruments. While there he became good friends with another instructor, Walter Mathau, who later became a famous Hollywood actor.

Back on the farm, his mother now had a growing herd of about 1,200 turkeys; she needed his help and he was glad to oblige. One of the first things that he did was to enlarge their processing and dressing facility. Their location, on busy U. S. Highway 31, gave them the visibility and access to transporting their dressed turkeys to a greater number of markets.

In 1946, Bill married his sweetheart, Teresa. She claims that two days after the wedding, he put her to work killing turkeys. Back then, they farmed and raised chickens

also. But over the years, the turkeys became more and more important.

In 1970, with the completion of U.S. Interstate 65 connecting Birmingham to Mobile, Bill opened a restaurant in Greenville, just off the interstate. He named it Bate’s House of Turkey and put Teresa in charge.

It was a good move, because the restaurant flourished.

We will deeply miss Bill. He was a true pioneer in raising, processing and marketing turkeys. Even more, his warm smile and friendliness made him a great ambassador for Alabama’s poultry industry.

The family requests that all memorial gifts be sent to: Palmer Home for Children P. O. Box 746 Columbus, MS 39703 Website: palmerhome.org or Little Sandy Ridge Pres. Church P. O. Box 395 Fort Deposit, AL 36032

Alabama Poultry Magazine

SANDESTIN, Fla, – In late July, the Alabama poultry pros headed to the beach for their annual meeting.

Under the watchful eyes of our own Big Chicken, the Sunday evening “Welcome to the Beach” get-together, to show appreciation for Association board of directors and meeting sponsors, was a great success, as old friends met and shared experiences and memories in good fellowship, with absolutely incredible food.

It was a perfect stage setter for the Monday morning board meeting.

AP&EA President Johnny Adcock called the meeting together on Monday morning, even as breakfast dishes were still clattering and steaming cups of coffee were being savored. The few bleary eyes soon were wide open and ready to proceed. In President Adcock’s opening remarks he talked about the effectiveness of the Association in the past year in keeping producers informed through the development of new county and regional poultry and egg associations. He also thanked the staff, giving special thanks to Association Membership Director Ray Hilburn for his efforts in organizing these new associations. He also thanked Executive Director Johnny Adams for his efforts in working with the Alabama Legislature to find CAFO funding and budget money for the National Poultry Technology Center.

Daniel Autrey of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries reported that, despite cutbacks in recent years, the department had reached level funding and was in the process of replacing the HVAC unit in the Agriculture and Industries headquarters.

Dr. Bill Batchelor, dean of the Auburn College of Agriculture, reported that, with the release in February of the Economic Impact of Alabama Agricultural, Forestry, and Related Industries report, Auburn President Dr. Jay Gogue was getting really excited about agriculture, especially poultry. He reported that Tim Cook, the new CEO of Apple Computer, and an Auburn grad, had made the statement to Dr. Gogue that the poultry industry in Alabama employed more people than Apple did world-wide. Dr. Batchelor also reported on a new cooperative agreement with a top Chinese agricultural college to begin a 3+2 plan in 2014.

This would give Chinese poultry science students the opportunity to study in China for three years, come to Auburn for two years and graduate with a master’s degree, before returning to China.

Dr. Gary Lemme of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System announced a new effort to spread the word about the importance of agriculture to the state with the introduction of a new website at www.AlabamaAgImpact.com. He also talked about the expansion of the 4-H Chick Chain program.

Association Administrative Director Wanda Linker led a discussion and critique of the 2013 “Evening of Fun.” The consensus was that it exceeded expectations, especially in light of having to replace Thompson Square at the last minute. The choice of Sara Evans was universally applauded.

Ray Hilburn presented the Allied Committee report. He announced the Allied

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Alabama Poultry Magazine

Golf Tournament would be held on Thursday, Sept. 26, at Chesley Oaks Golf Course and that part of the proceeds would go toward poultry science scholarships.

Ray was followed by Kenneth Sanders, chairman of the Grower Committee.

Kenneth reported that it had been decided to forego the traditional fall series of grower seminars and, instead, concentrate on developing stronger county associations. Continuing education could be handled through these local associations.

During the advisory reports, State Veterinarian Dr. Tony Frazier reported that the search for a head of the state diagnostic lab, to replace Dr. Fred Hoerr, and an avian pathologist was ongoing. Jim Donald, of biosystems engineering, reported that energy audits, covering 77 houses, on 33 farms had been completed. They are hoping to complete energy audits on 120 houses by the end of the year. He also announced the National Poultry Technology Center’s Housing Seminar, is scheduled for Oct. 15-17, in Auburn. He also thanked AP&EA Executive Director Johnny Adams for helping to insure that NPTC was funded through the general fund budget.

Dr. Don Conner, head of the Auburn department of poultry science, reported that the 2+2 Program with Wallace State Community College in Hanceville was in its first year and had two participants. He said that he was expecting more enrollments for next year, especially since scholarship money from AP&EA was now available.

AP&EA Executive Director Johnny Adams thanked President Johnny Adcock for his outstanding leadership this year. He reported that all was quiet on the Alabama legislative front, but immigration reform was a constant concern on the federal level.

The annual meeting that afternoon saw the election of a new board and new officers. Randall Ennis of Aviagen in Huntsville was elected president, Dale Gambrill of Tyson Foods in Snead was elected vice president, Tim Esslinger of Keystone Foods of Eufaula was elected treasurer and Harold Hunt of Koch Foods in Gadsden was elected secretary. The meeting was adjourned and all left to prepare for the evening festivities.

At 6:30 the doors to the ballroom opened and guests began to inspect the items that had been laid out for the silent auction. Bidding was fast and furious. Also catching the eyes of would-be bidders were the items that had been laid out for the live auction to be held later.

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Awards Banquet After the silent auction and dinner, AP&EA President Johnny Adcock welcomed everyone to the banquet. He introduced the new Association officers and recognized special guests. He then began the awards with the presentation of the Distinguished Service Award to Becky Arrington, Pilgrim’s Guntersville, for years of outstanding service to the Association through “Evening of Fun” ticket sales and grower membership recruitment. Becky is retiring this year and we wish her well, but we are also going to miss her.

Mitchell Pate, head of Auburn’s Poultry Research Unit, received the Presidential Award for outstanding contributions to the Association president during his term and for his loyalty and hard work over the years on behalf of the Association, from his years as a poultry science student to his present position.

Ticket Sales Awards

The Top Salesman for $150 Tickets Award goes to Christie Stockberger with Keystone Foods, Eufaula.

The Top Salesman to Broiler Growers Award, also known as the Rhonell Word Award, went to Barry Smith, Tyson Foods, Snead.

The award for the team selling the most tickets went to Tyson Foods in Snead. Team cocaptains were Danny Hughes, Chad Wiggs, David Pruett and Cindy Haynes. They also reached their quota. Accepting the awards were Barry Smith and Judy Dutton.

The award for the top team based on percentage of quota sold went to Keystone Foods, Eufaula, with 175 percent. They also won an award for meeting their quota. Accepting the award was Christie Stockberger.

Accepting the award for meeting team quota is Allied team captain, Jason Shell.

Accepting the award for meeting team quota is JCG Foods of Collinsville team captain, Keith Rhodarmer.

David Thompson of Koch Foods of Ashland accepted the team quota award for team captain, Keith Martin.

Harold Hunt, Koch Foods of Gadsden, accepted the team quota award for team captain, Cindy Deberry.

Roddy Sanders, Peco Foods, accepted the team quota award on behalf of team captain, Mike Glass.

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Alabama Poultry Magazine

After the awards presentation, AP&EA President Johnny Adcock addressed the Association for one last time.

As usual, Johnny was brief, humbly thanking everyone for making his tenure as president a memorable experience.

He also thanked the staff for their help. He then passed the gavel to incoming President Randall Ennis.

However, before Johnny could leave the stage, Randall presented him with a life-size bronze rooster, emblematic of his year as president. Joining him onstage, his wife, Maricile, was presented a gift certificate. Johnny was also presented a scrapbook of his time in office along with congratulatory letters from many of Alabama’s elected officials, Auburn dignitaries and AP&EA board members.

New President Randall Ennis took the podium and said that he was honored to serve the Association as president for the coming year, and expressed an awe and admiration for those who had come before him in the industry and in the Association, invoking the names of McElrath, Durbin, Sylvest, Ingram and Hickman as well as the Association presidents preceeding him. He expressed a great pride in the industry and a desire to see this pride passed to younger generations who now know nothing of the poultry industry.

His enthusiasm showed when he said, “We must use and take advantage of the recent economic study to educate the Legislature and other opinion leaders, and even prospective students on the value that poultry brings to their counties.”

He went on to talk about the need to reach a younger generation, saying, “I am concerned that today’s youth is too far away from agriculture and choosing alternative curriculums when they enter college.”(His message is excerpted on pg.3 of this magazine. The full text is also available on our website at www.alabamapoultry.org.)

With the conclusion of Randall’s speech, the live auction began with auctioneer Kent Stanford exhorting bidders to up the ante. As usual, there were hunts, vacation packages, football weekends, hand-crafted Auburn and Alabama quilts and a wonderful Amish inspired handmade quilt from Lancaster, Penn. Eric Killen and his fabricators at EIS provided another fabulous custom fabricated grill, designed to insight envy in any grill master’s heart. Then there was the jewelry, displayed by the lovely Dana Bennett, that caught the ladies’ eyes. All-in-all, there was some serious bling floating around. Somewhere in there, was also a raffle for 50 bottles of wine and three boxes of fine cigars – it could make your head swim just to think about it. Even better than all the stuff was the good natured competition and laughter. After the dust had settled and all the receipts were counted, AP&EA finished approximately $28,000 to the good – and a bunch of people had a great time. Maybe we should do it again next year!

Becky Arrington got back in the action, accepting the team quota award for Pilgrim’s of Guntersville/Boaz and picking up her Alabama Poultry Fraternity watch. Congratulations, Becky!

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Fresh off his election victory as AP&EA president, Randall Ennis went out and scored a “closest to the hole� drive on hole #7 and then finished it off with a short birdie putt.

Alas, the masterful stroke was not enough to propel his foursome to victory. However, it was good enough for a strong second place finish.

It was a great day for golf at the Baytowne Golf Club, with an occasional breeze to keep temperatures down.

1st Place with a 62 Dale Outlaw Jason Matthews Lou Sharp Jason Shell

2nd Place with a 64 Johnny Adams Randall Ennis Mitchell Pate Mark Wilton

3rd Place with a 65 Tommy Rials Corey Watson Larry Schmidt Scott Herrington

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Alabama Poultry Magazine

AP&EA Presidential Profile

Randall Ennis in Charge Randall Ennis, the newly-elected president of the Alabama Poultry & Egg Association and CEO of Aviagen Group has been described as “driven.” It is a description that he acknowledges with pride.

He credits his father for instilling in him that drive.

Randall recounted an event when he was a teenager as an example. Some of his friends were having a pool party and he asked his father if he could go. His father gave him permission, with the stipulation that he mow the lawn before he went.

Anxious to get to the pool party, he dashed through his mowing and went on to the pool party. Soon he was startled to see his father beckoning to him from poolside. The elder Ennis explained to his son that the job

that he had done had been most unsatisfactory, and that he needed to come home and do it over again ... NOW! With his pride hurt and embarrassed in front of his classmates, he left the party and redid the job as it should have been done. He laughs as he vividly remembers that day and said that it made an everlasting impression on him and never wanted to be put in that situation again.

“The lesson was, if you’re going to do it – do it right the first time,” says Randall. “That was the mentality that he instilled in me and my brothers. Whatever you do, be the best that you can be and that has stayed with me my entire life.”

Randall, the oldest of three brothers, did not grow up in a rural environment. His family lived in Trussville,

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When Randall is away, Mackey is the man of the house. When Randall is home, Mackey still gets lots of attention.

not far from Birmingham, in what he describes as a sleepy bedroom community.

In junior high school he went to work a summer job with a friend’s uncle near Springville, Ala. It was there that he experienced his first hands-on experience with agriculture. For several summers, the two boys worked on the farm hauling hay, working his cattle, building fences and all of the things associated with a small farm.

“We thought we were so cool that, although we were only 14, the farmer let us drive his pickup truck and even taught us how to operate a single row corn harvester. It was during these summers that Randall realized his affinity for agriculture.

After spending the summers working with livestock, he got the idea that he wanted to become a veterinarian and started working for a small animal vet after school and on weekends. It started as just cleaning cages and the dirty work associated with a vet clinic, but soon he was assisting the vets and even opening up and closing for them. Again he laughs and says that the owner of the vet clinic told him soon after he started that he had never seen the cages and dog runs cleaned so thoroughly and water bowls so shiny. Randall says, “I guess the work ethic my father demanded, impressed him and he realized that whatever responsibility he gave me, it would be done to the best of my ability. “ He was excited when he entered Auburn in the fall of 1979 in a pre-vet curriculum. His excitement quickly dissipated with his first chemistry class. Today, he jokes

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that he is, “one of the only people that holds a minor in chemistry at Auburn University without having passed the class.” After some reflection, he realized that becoming a veterinarian was more a goal projected by his parents rather than one that he really wanted.

Still, he knew that he wanted to be involved in agriculture as the whole concept of “feeding the world” appealed to him. Also, he loved the idea of being outdoors instead of behind a desk, and many opportunities in agriculture offered that possibility.

He looked first into ag engineering, but quickly realized that engineering was not his forte. Then he looked into ag economics, but failed to see the excitement this field offered. He eventually enrolled in the animal science program at Auburn and fell in love with the curriculum. However, he woke up one morning and while laying in bed thought, “What am I doing here? My father doesn’t own a farm and I’m not about to move to the Midwest to work on a dairy farm.”

One day, back in Trussville, he was visiting with Paul Jones, owner of Excel Supplies, a poultry medical supplies distributor, and father of one of Randall’s oldest friends, Casey Jones. Jones suggested that because of the rapid growth of the poultry industry, Randall ought to look into poultry science, especially since the department had a record of 100 percent placement for graduates.

When he returned to Auburn, he talked to Dr. Claude Moore, head of the poultry science department, and signed up for his Poultry 101 class. A few short weeks after starting the class, he knew that he had found his place. He changed majors and Dr. Bob Brewer became his faculty advisor and mentor, taking Randall under his wing and giving him a job on the poultry research farm.

It was there that Randall started learning the basics of poultry husbandry and developed life-long friends that today work in the industry. “There was Ricky, Roddy, David, Randy, Lynn, Shane, Wes, the Sullivan brothers, Mitchell, and a dozen more that all came out around the same time,” Randall recalled. “We had a blast working on the research farm, and every kid who’s enrolled in poultry science and doesn’t take advantage of it is missing a valuable opportunity.”

While at Auburn, whenever a visitor from the industry came to speak, Randall was there to listen. He learned, to his delight, of the incredible number of careers open to poultry science graduates. Whether it was production, processing, equipment sales, vaccine sales, economics or food science, there were incredible options for the poultry science graduate.

Alabama Poultry Magazine

Still, he leaned to the production side. He liked the idea of working with growers and being outside with the animals.

One summer Randall interned at the Gold Kist processing plant in Trussville, under plant manager, Tillman Morrison. Morrison was impressed with his willingness to learn and take on added responsibility.

Upon graduation, Randall had a job offer for a management-training program with a top integrator in another state. He was seriously considering the offer. But, that all changed when he got a call from Morrison at Gold Kist, “insisting that I reconsider and come back to work with him,” Randall says.

Although, Randall claims that he enjoyed his time at the Gold Kist plant in Trussville, learning some valuable lessons, it really wasn’t what he wanted to be doing. He really wanted to work with the live operations part of the business and, at the Gold Kist plant, there seemed to be no opportunities. His frustration was growing.

He acknowledges that much of his later success came from those lessons learned while at Gold Kist, and he is grateful for the opportunity to work there.

He had been with Gold Kist for only 18 months when he got a call from a competitor, ConAgra. They had heard about him through contacts in the industry and wanted him to come up and interview for a job in broiler production at their Athens, Ala., complex. He remembers, “I drove up on a Saturday morning, met with them and accepted the job before I left.”

Randall also recalls that he learned a great lesson that day, “Always talk with your wife before making decisions!” He explains, “I had to drive to Auburn, to a night football game, and inform her that we were moving to Decatur. It wasn’t pretty at the time, but in the end it all worked out okay.”

He loved the opportunity to work for ConAgra and it turned out to be one of “the most enjoyable times” in his career. The company was on top in the industry and the work environment was invigorating. “We wanted to be the best and to beat our sister divisions and we were allowed to be innovative and creative,” he says.

But, Randall was always looking for available opportunities to develop his skill sets with an eye toward to running a division. Randall says “Many may have thought I was a cocky so and so, but I knew what I wanted and was willing to make any sacrifices to achieve those goals.” So whenever he was offered opportunities, he readily accepted.

One of those opportunities was the new quality as-

surance position at the Athens plant. As a new position, it was the kind of opportunity that Randall relished, and, though he had no experience in QA, he took ownership of the position.

One day, his boss, Larry Miller, suggested that he visit with the QA manager in one of the other ConAgra locations. Larry had the highest respect for this gentleman and he was regarded as the “best QA manager” in the company. As he was walking out of Miller’s office, Randall remembers thinking to himself that, “one day he wanted to be the guy others came to visit!”

To many, it might sound cocky or conceited, but coming from Randall Ennis, it is illustrative of his drive and dedication to be the best. This drive, by no means denigrates anyone else, but is the salient point of his personality. He wants to be the best at whatever he does.

Interestingly, he contends that the QA position is the hardest job he has ever had by saying, “In quality assurance, it’s a position with all the responsibility yet zero authority.” He continues, “The way you get things implemented is to convince others to do what you need them to do – you have to be able to work with people.”

At ConAgra, no opportunity for advancement was missed. The night shift supervisor position in the plant came open, and though he had no experience in the plant, he asked for the position – and got it. His friends questioned his sanity, but he knew what he was doing.

A year later, he had the opportunity to go back into live production heading up a team of managers for whom he had once worked. He recalls, “It was difficult at first, but we worked through it and became one of the top live operations groups in the company.”

When a call came from Larry Miller, who was now

On one of his extended trips abroad, Cindy turned a downstairs room into the ultimate Auburn football man cave to surprise Randall. There are autographed game jerseys from all three of Auburn’s Heisman Trophy winners and a large screen television.

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Mitchell Pate, shown here with Dr. Bob Brewer and Randall, has been one of Randall’s best friends since their days together in the poultry science department. Dr. Brewer has been a long time mentor to Randall.

division manager over the Gainesville complex, for Randall to come to Gainesville and manage the pre-pack plant for ConAgra, another decision had to be made. “It was a difficult decision for me, in that we were having so much success in Athens and I had no experience in running a pre-pack operation, not to mention, this was the largest plant that ConAgra had at the time. Larry told me to trust him, but more importantly have trust in myself and get over there. So I did,” says Randall.

Eight months later, Miller was promoted to a position at corporate headquarters in El Dorado, Ark. He approached Randall with the idea of taking his place as division manager. Randall agreed and, at 32, became the division manager of the largest division in ConAgra.

He was at home one evening when a corporate headhunter called. He was told that Ross Breeders was looking for a vice president of operations. At this time, Randall explains, “There were some personal issues going on at the time and the company was making a change of direction, so I was ready for a change of scenery, and what better than to go back to north Alabama.”

After meeting with Ian Panton, who was president of Ross Breeders at the time, Randall had another decision to make. Interestingly, when Randall informed Panton that he had zero experience in primary breeding, Panton said (paraphrasing), “trust me and trust yourself that you can learn.” Another door had opened and Randall had walked through.

Shortly after that, Ross was bought out by a company and then merged with Arbor Acres to form Aviagen. When the CEO retired, Ian Panton moved into that position and Randall was named president of Aviagen North America. When Panton retired several years later, Randall assumed the role of CEO of the Aviagen Group.

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Randall sees the role of the primary breeder as one that directly benefits the grower. By developing a robust bird with a faster growth rate, it allows the grower to produce more flocks per year. Also with the advances in health, nutrition, and management, growers are producing healthier birds, which increases their margins.

Randall says that his career has been quite a journey and he wouldn’t change one thing along the way. The only draw back to his responsibilities is the daunting travel schedule with which he sometimes has to contend. In late August he spent time in Germany, then there is a planned trip to China, then to Hungary, then Italy, then Indonesia and finally Brazil. Those are all before Thanksgiving and do not include his domestic travel!

But to him, the negatives are offset by far more positives. “I get to experience different cultures and have the opportunity to meet with some of the sharpest minds in this industry. The innovation of this industry is astounding and is a tribute to the successes it has seen globally for the past 40 years.”

He credits Cindy’s support with enabling him to be on the road as frequently as he is. Cindy credits her dog, Mackey, with keeping her company.

She is active in the community and with family. She also stays busy with their church, First Baptist of Tanner, where she is involved in a food ministry. She says that she has used many of the recipes from the Alabama Poultry Magazine.

Randall and Cindy have three kids between them.

Heather, 28; Nicole 27; and Mike 26. (Mike is a singer/songwriter living in Nashville. He performs under the name, Anderson East, and has just released a new CD, Flowers of the Broken Hearted.)

Randall and Cindy also have three grandchildren by their oldest daughter, Heather: Gage, 10; Kyleigh, 6; and Brindley, 3. Randall calls Brindley his million-dollar grandchild. She was born at 24-weeks and spent threeand-a-half months in UAB Hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit. Today, she is healthy, active, and as Randall says, “devious as a fox.”

When Randall is not traveling, he tries to spend time with the grandkids and “is in his zone” when he and the kids are out by the pool.

Over the last few years, we have written a good deal about Randall and his vision for feeding the world. His presentation at our industry workshop two years ago, where he asked the question “Are you a catfish?” It still resonates with many.

The story goes, there was a company that had the

Alabama Poultry Magazine

idea of shipping live salmon to Southeast Asia, because the importers demand fresh salmon, which is a delicacy.

They equipped a ship with a large fresh water tank and shipped the fish. However, when the salmon arrived, they had lost muscle tone and were lethargic. The meat was hardly palatable.

Someone came up with the idea of putting catfish in the tank with the salmon. The catfish would nibble at the salmon and keep them swimming, thus keeping them toned and the meat good. The idea worked and the venture was profitable.

The story was an illustration of the need for people within organizations to be “catfish.” The organizational catfish, in a respectful way, keeps people stirred up and challenged in order to avoid complacency.

With Randall Ennis at the helm of the AP&EA this year, it is reasonable to expect that things will get shaken and stirred. Welcome, Randall Ennis!

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Always ready to share his experience and wisdom with young poultry science students at Auburn, Randall has spoken at Auburn’s Ag Career Day and visited with the Auburn Poultry Science Club for some questions and answers. He was also very involved with the new feed mill.

Alabama Poultry Magazine

Recipe

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Alabama Poultry Magazine

Industry News

Pilgrim’s Announces $25 Million Investment in Alabama GREELEY, Colo., Aug. 28, 2013 — Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation today announced a $25 million investment in the state of Alabama. The investment includes the construction of a new feed mill facility in Pinckard, Ala., and a $10 million renovation of the company’s poultry processing facility in Enterprise, Ala. “We are excited to announce our continued commitment to Dale County, the communities of Enterprise and Pinckard, local family farmers, our customers and the Pilgrim’s team members who work hard every day to make our business a success,” said Jayson Penn, executive vice president, sales and operations, Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation. “This significant investment is consistent with our strategy of relentless pursuit of operational excellence and will improve our efficiencies, cost structure and competi-

tiveness, while creating a safer work environment for our employees.”

The company will begin construction of the new feed mill within the next 30 days and renovation of the existing processing facility in Enterprise will occur over the next six months.

Partnering with the local government, the company was granted a tax abatement to offset new construction and equipment costs from the Dale County Commission and Ozark-Dale County Economic Development Corporation.

“The local government has proven to be a valuable partner in our effort to modernize our facilities in Dale County,” Penn said. “The assistance of the Dale County Commission and Ozark-Dale County Economic Development Corporation demonstrates their commitment to the community and the local workforce.”

The two-shift poultry processing facility in Enterprise employs more than 700 people, processes more than 1 million birds per week and provides products to some of the leading food service and restaurant chains in the United States. The new feed mill in Pinckard will replace the existing feed mill currently located in Enterprise and will employ more than 25 people.

About Pilgrim’s Pride Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation employs approximately 37,500 people and operates chicken processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in 12 states, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

The company’s primary distribution is through retailers and foodservice distributors.

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Auburn Poultry Science Scholarship Winners

AP&EA Scholarship Winners In what has been described as the largest group of poultry science scholarship winners in years, 50 poultry science students have been awarded scholarships for the 2013-14 academic year. Those 50 scholarships total approximately $115,000.

These students were recognized on Aug. 24, at the College of Agriculture’s annual Scholarship Recognition Program at the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.

Heartiest congratulations, to these young future leaders of the poultry industry.

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Alabama Poultry Magazine

Practical Applications

By Jim Donald, Jess Campbell, Dennis Brothers & Gene Simpson, National Poultry Technology Center, Auburn University College of Agriculture

Thunderstorm season is here in the poultry belt. From Texas to Maryland we are being pounded with our customary afternoon or evening thunderstorms that can produce damage to houses with either high winds or lightning. Nearly five billion dollars worth of property damage in the U.S. is caused by lightning each year. The fact is that lightning is a major problem to electrical installations and the modern poultry farm is very vulnerable to lightning damage. Lightning does not have to strike the farm directly to cause a problem. Lightning strikes occur 77 million times per year in the U.S. and can contain massive amounts of raw energy. A direct lightning strike could be as much as 200,000 amperes of current and the voltage could be in the magnitude of 100,000 to 1,000,000 volts. This amount of energy must be dealt with by our electrical installations both at the power supplier level and on our farm or the result will be damage to our electrical equipment and our installation. Poultry house insurance companies are also showing increased interest in having houses adequately protected.

There are many misunderstandings as to how to protect our farms from lightning. This article will lay out the basic steps that can be taken to help protect a modern poultry farm from lightning damage. Lightning protection, grounding, and farm wiring are all interrelated and are complex technical topics. In most instances growers will need the help of qualified experts in these fields to ensure that their system is not vulnerable and that they are well protected. In looking at lightning protection, we will need to look at how the power is delivered to the farm, how the farm is wired, how the farm is grounded, and the installation of lightning or surge protective devices.

Often we will see many farms in the same general geographic vicinity that will be exposed to a lightning storm in a given timeframe. Some farms will not be affected but some will suffer damage. Close examination of the farms that always seem to be affected versus those that are not affected reveals that there are many corrective steps that can be taken to improve the farm wiring and grounding system to help minimize lightning damage.

The first line of defense for lightning protection is to follow the rules known for good electrical grounding.

Poultry farm wiring is notorious for its poor quality so when we survey a farm and look at the wiring, there are

often places where improvements can be made.

Lightning may directly strike a farm, or it may magnetically induce a surge into the farm wiring through the power lines, telephone lines, data networks or even the electrical ground system. Lightning can strike from cloud to structure, cloud to cloud, or even cloud to ground and most electrical systems will see some degree of electrical surge caused by the high release of energy of the lightning strike.

Direct strikes from lightning are more difficult to protect from but the surge voltage or transient voltage that often comes from cloud to cloud or cloud to earth strikes can be greatly reduced through proper grounding and the installation of surge protection devices.

Grounding One of the key requirements for protection of electrical equipment from surges and transient is to have a low impedance (resistance) earth ground. The National Electrical Code (NEC) targets 25 ohms as a minimum acceptable ground resistance but a good ground for lightning protection purposes should be in the neighborhood of 5 ohms or less if it can be achieved. In a recent field study conducted by Auburn engineers on an 8house poultry farm, the lowest resistance-to-ground

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found at any rod driven on the farm was 35 ohms. Many feet from the existing rod and tying the two rods toof the readings on the farm were over 100 ohms of re- gether can reduce the ground resistance by approxisistance to ground. mately 40 percent.

What does At any rate a Figure 1 this mean? It qualified electrimeans that we do cian should innot have a good stall, test and low resistance certify the path for the lightgrounds to new ning or transient poultry houses. energy to be Growers should shunted or byhire an electrician passed to ground. or ask for the asGrounding elecsistance of their trical systems is a electrical power complex technisupplier to help cal topic but for analyze the rethe laymen or sistance to poultry producer ground of their an electrical grounding sysground might be tems.

In a 4-wire grounding system, two hot wires, the neutral wire, and a separate thought of as a In addition to equipment grounding wire are taken to each house. The neutral and equipment drain pipe and grounding wires are tied together only at the central meter pole and are kept sepa- a low impedance lightning energy rate at all houses. ground connecmight be thought The 4-wire system is more expensive, but affords an extra measure of protection tion, the farm for sensitive electronic equipment. Installing surge and lighting protection devices wiring should be of as a huge surge for electronic equipment in addition is also recomment of flood water designed with a that needs to be grounding system carried away to prevent flooding. The larger the culvert known as single point grounding. This technique incoror drain pipe the easier the water can be taken away and porates a central point to which all electrical grounds the less likelihood that we will have flooding and flood are bonded before taken to earth with a single connecdamage. Similarly the lower resistance the ground is, tion. the better the ground system can take away the surge of With a 4-wire single point ground electrical system electrical current from a lightning strike to ground and in each poultry house, the ground block or buss and the thus prevent electrical damage to sensitive electronic neutral block or buss are kept separated. A ground rod equipment, such as controllers and alarm systems. is driven at each house but tied only to the grounding Getting good grounds on poultry farms is not as block of the service panel, and the 4th wire from the ceneasy as just driving a rod and walking away. Soil type, tral meter pole is run to each poultry house and tied to moisture, rock, and other factors all have an effect on the grounding terminal and block. (See Figure 1) This electrical ground resistance. On a new farm it is sug- 4-wire system provides single point grounding for the gested that ground rods not be located in the control house. When you look at the whole farm wiring system, room but be located outside in a convenient place. An the grounds and the neutral are tied together only at the NEC approved rod, clamp, and conductor should be in- central metering pole, so in effect, we achieve a single stalled and the resistance to ground should be tested by point of ground for the entire farm. The 4-wire system a qualified electrician with appropriate test equipment. will minimize surges from lightning and large differIf 25 ohms resistance or less is not obtained, then addi- ences of voltage called ground loops. These systems are tional rods should be driven or other grounding tech- slightly more expensive to install when houses are new niques should be explored to help reduce the ground but offer greatly minimized damage from lightning and resistance. Driving an additional rod approximately 8 transient voltage.

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Alabama Poultry Magazine

Older farms utilized what is called the 3-wire sys- croseconds. This necessitates that the surge protection tem. (See Figure 2) On these farms, two hot conductors device switch from the high impedance mode to the low and a neutral are taken to each poultry house. The impedance mode very quickly to divert the energy to ground block and ground. The deFigure 2 the neutral block vice then needs to are bonded to the reset itself back to enclosure and a the normal high ground rod will impedance state be driven at each for high operahouse.

All tion. grounds at that No matter poultry house whether your will be taken to farm is new or old that rod and that or whether you rod should be have a 3-wire or checked to be more modern 4certain that resistwire service, you ance to ground is should adhere to acceptable. the following Under this sceguidelines as nario each house much as possible In a 3-wire grounding system, two hot wires and a neutral wire are taken to each with regard to is considered a separate electrical house. The neutral and equipment grounding wires are tied together at both eht cen- lightning protectral pole and generator and at all houses. system, and we This is the older way to achieve good grounding and is acceptable, all though the tion. will have single 4-wire system affords an extra measure of protection for sensative electronic equipAt whatever point grounding ment. If you use the 3-wire system, having good surge and lightening protection on location is necesfor each house all electronic equipment is even more critical. sary to ground but we will not equipment be cerhave single point grounding for the farm as a whole. tain to adhere to single point grounding to that location.

This practice has been used for many years, and if you Tie all equipment to a common ground. have an older farm with this type of wiring system, you Work with your electrician, power supplier, or lightmust take extra precautions to minimize lightning dam- ning protection specialist, and your insurance company age that can be caused by networking of controllers or to be certain that you have a low resistance to earth at alarms, or you might consider updating to a 4-wire elec- every ground rod driven. If you do not, then take cortrical system. rective action.

Particularly if you have the older 3-wire services, protect your controllers, alarms, and dialers with surge Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) protection devices. Consider surge protection devices Surge protective device is the common term used to for house panels and main electrical services. describe products that protect sensitive electronic equip- For more safety, consider the newer types of communiment from damaging transient voltages. A surge protec- cations that are used to transmit information from one tive device serves as a very high impedance connection house to another. Wireless networks for controllers and between power or signal lines and grounds under nor- alarms eliminate wires that can cause lightning damage. mal operating conditions. When the surge protection de- Many poultry controller companies are introducing vice senses a fast-rising voltage, the device becomes a wireless technologies that will help minimize damage low impedance or short circuit for this voltage to go to caused by lighting.

Be sure all ground clamps, ground wires, grounding ground and thus divert unwanted energy away from the sensitive electronic equipment. Transient conditions conductors and rods are maintained over time. Don’t occur sometimes for a duration of approximately 20 mi- neglect maintenance of your grounding system.

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A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

By Jim Donald, Jess Campbell, Dennis Brothers & Gene Simpson, National Poultry Technology Center, Auburn University College of Agriculture

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 1 A major problem with older post in ground housing is deterioration of the outside metal because of continued contact with the soil. This can be spurred on by unintentional contact with litter and moisture from the interior of the house.

Newer concrete footer houses do not have this problem as the side metal is not in direct ground or litter contact. This problem can become so bad on older houses that a significant portion of the bottom of the metal deteriorates. (See photo 1). Unfortunately there are no quick and easy fixes for this problem. NPTC studies and field testing have shown that houses with exterior metal deterioration along the foundation also have severe air leak problems which cause a non-uniform environment for the birds, wet litter, and increased heater run times; all which lead to poor performance and higher fuel bills. See the smoke test in photo 2.

The NPTC has recently been researching what seems to

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be a very effective solution. Although labor intensive, growers can remove the bottom full or half sheet of metal and replace with a UV stabilized PVC, non-corrosive sheathing (Photo 3). The product tested is typically sold at a price comparable to painted 29 gauge sheet metal per linear foot and comes in the same shape and width as common poultry house metal. At the installation time, only white was available. This repair eliminates the problem and insures it won’t happen again in five years. Care must be taken with fastener size and torque but after over a year, the first installations are holding up very well. Replacing the rusted metal with new metal would not be recommended for long term repairs because of reoccurring corrosion. For more information and detail guidance on this practice, contact the National Poultry Technology Center. Visit www.poultryhouse.com and look for the “contacts” page.

pg. pg. pg. pg. pg. pg. pg. pg. pg. pg. pg. pg. pg. pg.

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Allied Fund-Raising Golf Tournament Thursday, September 26, 2013 Chesley Oaks Golf Course, Cullman

Alabama Poultry Industry Workshop October 8 – 9, 2013 Lake Guntersville State Park, Guntersville

COUNTY ASSOCIATION MEETINGS Southeast Alabama Poultry & Egg Association Wednesday, September 25, 2013, 10:30 a.m.

Keith Harbert Farm, Midland City Clay, Randolph, Calhoun, Cleburne, & Cherokee Counties Open House, Koch, Gadsden Farm TBA Wiregrass Poultry & Egg Association Organizational Meeting November 12, 2013, 6:30 p.m.

Coffee County Farm Center, New Brockton

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