Believing is
SEEING AU B U R N U N I V E R S I T Y | D E PA R TM E N T O F P O U LT RY S C I E N C E | 2016 A N N UA L R E P O R T
NEW courses ACROSS CAMPUS OPEN DOORS FOR STUDENTS
Progress ON THE CHARLES C.
MILLER JR. CENTER CONTINUES RESEARCHERS collaborate TO ADDRESS MEAT MYOPATHIES AUBURN POULTRY SCIENCE
LEAVES A global FOOTPRINT
#ThisIsOurWork
IN THIS edition C L A S S R O O M S U CC E S S Next generation problem solving in products & processing class Spring feed milling courses 2+2 program expands campuses Students take poultry housing course taught in Biosystems Engineering Food Science embraces stand-alone degree program Alumna visits campus
R E S E A R C H W I T H I M PAC T Meat quality research projects Improving poultry processing Food safety research addresses natural antimicrobials Low-path Avian Influenza research Additional buildings planned in Miller Center address innovative research
VALUABLE EXTENSION EFFORTS Dr. Dianna Bourassa reinstates poultry processing newsletter Extension specialists participate in consumer awareness panels FDA training developed for fruit & vegetable producers and processors. Food safety workshops held at Auburn Addressing farm security & biosecurity for growers Communicating food security and defense
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP S Honduran exchange program brings interns & graduate students Faculty travel to Cuba Students study abroad
DEPARTMENTAL E XPENDITURE REP ORTS
BELIEVING IS seeing. A L E T T ER F R O M D EPA R TM EN T H E A D, D O N A L D CO N N ER On behalf of our faculty, staff and students, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce the 2016 Annual Report for the Department of Poultry Science. This report is a snapshot of various efforts we put forth to serve the poultry and food industries in Alabama and beyond. In reading this report, I believe you will see our strong belief and commitment to this mission. Also, I hope you will be impressed, as I am, with the accomplishments we as a Department made in the last 12 months. In 2016, many of the pieces of our vision of being a premier Poultry Science program were realized. Therefore, I believe 2016 will go down as an important year for us as we continued to position our Department to be the best it can be. Of particular note, on November 4, 2016 we dedicated the Charles C. Miller, Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center, which eventually will replace our existing poultry farm. It was a great time for us as the Auburn Family to celebrate and continue to look to the future. The existing, newly-opened, and future facilities that will comprise the complete Miller Center will provide the environment in which our students, faculty and staff can thrive and make a difference in serving our poultry and food industries via teaching, research and extension. In 2016, we continued to see our undergraduate student enrollment grow … 83 at the start of the fall semester! We also saw growth in our formal “2+2” programs with 24 total students at the three community colleges. While the job market remains extremely good for our graduates, we continued to take steps to better prepare our students to be future leaders, innovators and problem solvers. New students in the Poultry Production option will see a new curriculum that includes courses in feed milling, advanced production and poultry housing; as well as more business courses. We also
saw increased strength and growth of Food Science through faculty, student, and programmatic enhancements. Department-wide, we expanded use of ePortfolio to enhance our students’ learning experiences, professional growth, and visibility with potential employers. All of these steps are helping us achieve the goal that our stakeholders will see our graduates as the employees of choice! This past year we welcomed two new faculty members, Dr. Charles Starkey and Dr. Dianna Bourassa, which brings to six the number of new faculty hired over the past two years. As Department head, I am very pleased to see the strong level of commitment and enthusiasm these folks bring to our program, which complements existing faculty. In this report I believe you will see that their work is beginning to bear fruit, and more importantly, making an impact in solving critical issues. More specifically, we are focusing our programs in the key areas of efficiency & sustainability, food quality, food safety, and poultry health. We are working diligently to develop and deliver the new knowledge and technology to serve our stakeholders well into the future. While the old saying goes “seeing is believing,” I think “believing is seeing” is more appropriate. Our accomplishments, including those highlighted in this brief report, have been borne from our true belief in our mission and a strong belief in being the best. Belief plus commitment plus stakeholder support is now allowing us to see tangible results in the form of new facilities, new programs, more students, and more impact. Thank you to all of our supporters and WAR EAGLE!
Don Conner Professor and Department Head
AUBURN POULTRY SCIENCE by the numbers IN 2016
2
ADDING
23,100
A S WE SUPP ORTED
NEW P OULTRY SCIENCE FACILITIES BUILT FOR LIVE PRODUC TION RESE ARCH
SQUARE FEE T OF NEW LIVE PRODUC TION RESE ARCH SPACE
LIVE PRODUC TION RESE ARCH TRIAL S AT THE EXIS TING RESE ARCH FARM
67
9
2
OF THOSE S TUDENTS TR ANSFERED TO AU B U R N U N I V E R S I T Y F R O M A C O M M U N I T Y C O L L EG E .
P O U LT R Y & F O O D S C I E N C E S T U D E N T S U N D E R G R A D UAT E S F O R T H E 2015-16 Y E A R .
54
A R E I N T E R N AT I O N A L S TUDENTS , HAILING FROM SOUTH A MERIC A .
2016 RECRUITING EFFORTS
135 350 15
ON C A MPUS VISITS STUDENTS AT FFA EVENTS
NEW STUDENT BBQ VISITORS
2
IPPE TR ANSFER STUDENTS
23 10
P.E.E.P.S . STUDENTS
140 60
SPRING JUDGING CLINIC STUDENTS
AG T E AC H ER S AT OUR WORKSHOP
120 40
AVID 4H STUDENTS
PRE-SCHOOL STUDENT VISITS
FOOD SCIENCE CAMPERS
POULTRY SCIENCE CLUB numbers
FOOD SCIENCE CLUB numbers
60 10
20 22
AC TIVE MEMBERS
15 6
SPE AKERS FROM THE INDUSTRY
The Poultry Science club is open to all students in the College of Agriculture, and many are poultry science students or minors. They meet biweekly to hear from industry speakers and organize club projects.
STUDENTS OFFERED IPPE INTERNSHIPS ON-CAMPUS POULTRY EVENTS Breast Cancer Awareness lunch
AC TIVE MEMBERS
4
FOOD SCIENCE T-SHIRTS SOLD
FOOD SCIENCE STUDENT INTERNSHIPS
3
CAMPUS FOOD SCIENCE EVENTS
Ag Roundup
This year’s Food Science T-shirt depicts Aubie and says “Play with your food and get paid!”
Ag Discovery Day
Photo by Adam Porter.
Ag Carnival Get “Ag”tive!
O-Days on the Concourse
THE ADVANTAGE OF ePortfolios HELPING YOU HIRE THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB. Over the past few semesters we have been working within our department to create ePortfolios, an online space for students to share their experiences inside and outside of the classroom. So, what do potential employers need to know about ePortfolios? ePorfolios get beyond the resume. Students are encouraged to show their personality along with their academic accomplishments. Knowing what they learned from an internship or international experience, for example, tells you so much more than one line on a resume which is easily overlooked. They also show real-life examples of work. Lab reports, writing samples, videos, group projects, and end of semester reflections are all ways that faculty have incorporated ePortfolios into their Poultry and Food Science courses. These are all examples of “artifacts” which allow students to show what they know, what they’ve learned, track their own progress, and make connections between courses. Students maintain control of their own ePortfolio pages and have been encouraged to share these with employers by including the web address on their resumes. It is our hope you will take the time to look at their work, get to know them, and find the best fit for your company.
2+2 PRO G R A M S S U CCE E D O N CO LLEG E C A M PU S E S The Poultry Science 2+2 program is now in its fourth year, partnering with Wallace State Community College in Hanceville and Dothan and Gadsden State’s Cherokee County campus. For the first two years, Dr. Wallace Berry taught the course to Wallace State students via interactive live streaming, while facilitators at the community college level provided classroom space and excellent laboratory experiences at the diagnostic lab. In 2017 24 students enrolled in the remote courses across the three campuses. This 2+2 program provides a pathway to Auburn for the community college students and gives them an opportunity to be connected to the Poultry Science Department and its programs and students. 2+2 students can attend the International Production and Processing Expo and make internships and contacts to connect with internships and future employment options.
N E X T G E N E R ATI O N PRO B LE M S O LV IN G Dr. Amit Morey teaches Poultry 5140, better known as “Poultry Processing and Products”, a course that takes a unique approach to student’s creative thinking and problem solving skills. In this course students assess poultry products from the processing plant through the further processed products consumers find in grocery stores. Students are required to create a product that is marketable, profitable and desirable from the general consumer. They think outside the box, where they research popular chicken dishes from around the world and define how they can create a unique product desirable for the American consumers. When selecting a product, students critically assess the product segment their new product will be in (breakfast, lunch, dinner etc.), targeted demographics, and benchmarking. Students are challenged to use ingredients based on functionality and their added value to the final product. Not only do students prepare various
products, they conduct consumer taste tests to gather inputs about their products and then alter the product as per the suggestions from the consumers They also develop product reformulation instructions (microwave, stovetop cooking, etc) adding yet another dimension to the product development project. Once the product is finalized, students create a nutrition label as per the FDA guidelines as well as a package for their product and analyze who their general audience will be. ePortfolios replace lab notebooks in this project, which allow for more creative expression and group reflection. Here, they can demonstrate different techniques they are using that were taught throughout the course, upload photos and videos and can express different ideas, opinions and obstacles their group faced each week in creating their products. The success of the product development projects was made possible by continuous and enthusiastic efforts of Elle Chadwick, the class Teaching Assistant.
S PR IN G 2017 B R IN G S N E W CO U R S E S TO S T U D E NT S Dr. Charles Starkey entered the Poultry Science Department in May of 2016, and has been primarily involved in setting up his laboratories and compiling two new courses. The first course new to students this spring is Advanced Poultry Production, which will build upon the commercial poultry production course that students take in their junior year. This course will incorporate real world scenarios and problems to help students understand the full effects of decisions made on other aspects of a
fully integrated poultry company. The second course offered for the first time to students at Auburn is a juniorlevel course that introduces the feed mill and feed manufacturing to students. Topics in this course include basic production of meal and pelleted animal feeds as well as feed ingredient use and quality concerns. Students will also cover FDA, EPA, and OSHA regulations as well as learn about extrusion and liquids feeds for pet, aquaculture, and ruminant feeding programs. This class also gives a very broad but shallow exposure of the whole animal feed industry.
A DJ U N C T FACU LT Y S U PP O R T FO O D S CIE N CE PRO G R A M In Fall 2016, the Food Science curriculum option transitioned to a stand-alone BS degree program following earlier approvals by Auburn University and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. The Food Science program will continued to be housed and administered by the Department, but instruction of the subject matters required by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) relies on faculty across the College. To increase the strength and visibility of Food
Science as a major to potential students, the following four Auburn faculty members have joined the Department as adjunct faculty members. Dr. Christy Bratcher joins us from the Animal Sciences Department, specializing in Meat Processing Quality and Safety, Dr. Oladiran Fasina and Dr. Yifen Wang of Biosystems Engineering bring their specialties in Food Engineering and processing. Finally, Dr. Luxin Wang of Animal Sciences joins us with her Food Microbiology and Sensory Evaluation specialties.
This plexiglass model of a poultry house allows students to assess airflow and is used in various projects to showcase various engineering aspects of housing. Photo and article submitted by Dr. Jeremiah Davis
HOUSING COURSE OPENS new doors. BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND THE NATIONAL POULTRY TECHNOLOGY CENTER TEAM UP TO OFFER NEW HOUSING COURSE TO POULTRY STUDENTS.
This fall, a new course, Commercial Poultry and Livestock Housing, was created in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and taught by National Poultry Technology Center (NPTC) faculty and guest lecturers from industry. The course was developed to support undergraduate students from the Departments of Poultry Science, Biosystems Engineering, and others interested in applied engineering and management concepts in commercial housing design. Specific student learning competencies included the following: • Demonstrate ability to find, read, and digest important concepts from poultry and livestock housing extension materials • Perform analysis of thermal envelope of the housing system; building materials, insulation, measure house pressure, perform infiltration leak test • Performance test a broiler ventilation system; meter calibration, determine wind speeds, measure fan RPMs, perform smoke flow tracing exercises • Perform analysis of the evaporative cooling system; max windspeed, determine water quality and quantity, perform proper cleaning techniques
• Determine heating needs of a housing system; use an infrared camera, take measurements with IR gun, clean a radiant heater • Measure lighting uniformity in a broiler house; meter calibration, bulb types, measure light output • Measure humidity and ammonia levels; meter calibration, pull ammonia samples Design commercial livestock farm using the basic building blocks developed through this course Sixteen students completed the inaugural offering of the course. Each student was given a teaching toolbox that included typical equipment used in live production. The NPTC also made available more expensive equipment like thermal infrared cameras and calibration meters to get hands-on experience. For their final project, 9 Poultry Science and 7 Biosystems Engineering students designed the major components (tunnel fans, evaporative cooling systems, heaters, lights, etc.) of a typical commercial poultry house and submitted final reports.
A LUM N A TA LK S AV I A N H E A LTH , C A R E E R G ROW TH & MO R E D U R IN G “ O U R WO R K ” S E M IN A R O N C A M PU S Poultry Science Alumna Victoria DrouettPratt came to campus just one day after receiving her Masters in Avian Medicine, to speak to students at the College’s Our Work Seminar series. There, she chronicled her career in Poultry Science, beginning as a transfer student through achieving her Masters in Avian Medicine. After transferring to Auburn University following two years of community college,
Pratt completed her undergraduate degree in Poultry Science at Auburn University. Pratt then went on to complete her DVM at Auburn in 2010, and has been active in the veterinary industry and poultry industry. To hear Pratt’s seminar online, visit agriculture.auburn.edu/currentstudents/career-services/our-workseminars.
FO O D S CIE N CE D EG R E E COM E S INTO IT ’ S OWN For over twenty-five years, the best kept secret at Auburn University was the food science program. As a degree option in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science and, more recently, the Department of Poultry Science, students often had difficulty locating the program and experienced a lack of identity. This occurrence was surprising considering the need to provide nutritious food to the growing global population and prevent an estimated 48 million domestic cases of food borne illnesses. However, that all changed in August 2016 when a stand-alone B.S. degree in Food Science came to fruition. The B.S. in Food Science satisfies the requirements for programmatic approval by the Institute of Food Technologists. Approved food science programs must cover critical food science course content, assess student learning, and prepare students for careers in food science. Our food science students face rigorous coursework in food chemistry, food analysis, food microbiology, food engineering, and sensory evaluation. In addition, an internship within the food industry is required. The program concludes with a food product development capstone course where teams of food science students conceptualize and develop new food products. The new B.S. degree in Food Science clearly identifies our graduates as “food scientists” to potential employers. It also elevates the significance of food science as a field of study and provides identity to our students and alumni. Students graduating with a B.S. in Food Science will be aptly prepared to enter the food industry and make significant contributions toward feeding the world and improving food safety. The future of Auburn’s food science program is bright; as one of our juniors remarked, “I believe that this B.S. degree will put Auburn on the map for more future food scientists!”
FO O D S CIE N CE O FFE R S ACCREDITED HACCP COURSE In Spring 2016, Principles of Food Safety was offered by Dr. Emefa Monu. A large portion of this class is devoted to teaching students about the HACCP food safety management system, not only the theory, but how to design and implement a HACCP Plan in the food industry. The course has been accredited by the International HACCP Alliance and Monu is an approved Lead Instructor, providing students with a certificate in HACCP training. This enables graduates of our poultry science and food science programs to be more competitive as they search for jobs in the industry.
Charles “Buddy” Miller III addresses the crowd at the November 4 dedication.
“THIS NEW CENTER significantly advances OUR MISSION TO GENERATE NEW KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATE FUTURE LEADERS TO ENSURE A HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE POULTRY SYSTEM. -DONALD CONNER, PROFESSOR & DEPARTMENT HE AD
PRO G R E S S O N TH E CH A R LE S C . M ILLE R J R . P O U LTRY R E S E A RCH A N D E D U C ATI O N CE NTE R CO NTIN U E S FO RWA R D WITH MOM E NT UM .
W H ER E W E ’ V E CO M E , A N D W H ER E W E ’ R E G O I N G I N 2017 November 4, 2016 was a landmark day for Auburn University’s College of Agriculture, the Department of Poultry Science and the poultry industry as we dedicated the new Charles C. Miller, Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center This new Center significantly advances our mission to generate new knowledge and educate future leaders to ensure a healthy and sustainable poultry system. In pursuit of this mission, the Miller Center contributes to the university’s standing as a global leader in poultry research, instruction and outreach, and enables its vision of becoming the premiere poultry education and research program. With eventual build out, the Miller Center will house a host of facilities that are representative of all facets of the modern poultry industry.
At present, four key facilities have been constructed; with the fifth slated for construction in 2017 (Table 1). These five facilities represent approximately 40% of the total space envisioned when the Miller Center is fully developed. Again, the fully developed Miller Center will include a comprehensive array of infrastructure to advance all of our mission areas. Other facilities in the planning phase but yet to be scheduled for construction are listed in Table 2. These facilities will be constructed based on priority and at the speed at which funding is secured. The processing plant, hatchery, and necropsy laboratory are highest priorities at present; however, all the facilities are needed to support critical research, teaching and extension needs.
Unofficial 2017 rendition for the Administration Building
TA B L E 1 . FAC I L I T I E S CO M P L E T ED O R WITH COMPLE TED PL ANS AND YE AR Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center / Feed Mill
2012
National Poultry Technology Center Testing & Modeling Facility
2016
Poultry Nutrition Research Facility
2016
Poultry Management Research Facility
2016
Administration and Education Building
2017
TA B L E 2. N EED ED FAC I L I T I E S TO COMPLE TE THE MILLER CENTER Pilot Processing Plant
Multi-use Research Houses
Research and Teaching Lab
Battery - Chamber Facilities
Hatchery
Aviary - Layer House
Broiler Breeder House
BSL 2 Necropsy Laboratory
IM PROV E D PRO CE S S IN G World wide, electrical stunning is the most common method of rendering broiler chickens unconscious prior to processing, as required by the USDA. While electrical stunning is generally accepted as humane, the efficacy and reliability of electrical stunning varies with the equipment design and operation, plant conditions, and bird size. Objective data is needed on U.S. methods of poultry stunning in order to address and ensure animal welfare concerns are being met by poultry producers. Research and refinement is being done under the vision of Dr. Wallace Berry to solidify definitions on brain activity, evoked responses to stimuli in broilers, and the effects of varying voltage and frequency to determine the best practices ensuring human processing efforts while preserving poultry quality for consumers.
VACCIN E D E V E LO PM E NT FO R P O U LTRY D I S E A S E S Dr. Ken Macklin and colleagues at Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine are working to develop vaccines against several common poultry diseases. To date, there has been mixed success in the development and verification of the effectiveness of these vaccines. The team hopes for positive results in the coming year. Improving the health and well being of humans and animals across the globe is a mission we take seriously. To learn more about our initiatives in human and animal health, visit us online at poul.auburn.edu.
COLLABORATING ON meat quality MULTIPLE RESE ARCHERS SEEK TO REDUCE “ WOODEN BRE A ST ” MYOPATHY
Wooden Breast (WB) is a quality defect of the breast fillet in broiler chickens that is characterized by the buildup of connective tissue that results in increased toughness and rigidity of the fillet. Wooden breast is a palatability issue and does not influence the wholesomeness of the affected fillets. Fillets affected by wooden breast have the potential to provoke consumer complaints due to noticeably altered textural properties. The incidence of wooden breast has a significant economic impact to the broiler industry due to loss of salable product, additional costs of lost production inputs, quality assurance monitoring, production line inefficiency, and product disposal associated with birds affected by quality defects. Dr. Bill Dozier has been evaluating nutritional strategies to reduce the incidence of severity of wooden breast in broilers. Dietary lysine, 2nd limiting amino acid for poultry, plays a central role in breast muscle development as it represents a higher amount of crude protein in breast muscle than other amino acids.
Results to date indicate that dietary manipulation may be an effective intervention for reducing severe WB scores without compromising breast meat yield. In other research, Drs. Amit Morey and Jessica Starkey are working on a collaborative research project sponsored by the Auburn University Internal Grant Program aimed at establishing methods that would allow for the rapid detection of WB. Again, breast meat exhibiting WB is very hard to the touch and also has reduced water holding capacity and marinade uptake capability which reduce consumer acceptance and devalues the product. Currently the only reliable method available for detection of WB is visual observation combined with hand palpation of the meat which are not commercially viable options for largescale chicken meat processors. Therefore, Dr. Morey’s group is testing multiple non-invasive detection methods that could be incorporated into largescale processing facilities and Dr. J. Starkey’s group is using cryohistology and immunofluorescence microscopy techniques to validate these methods for the accurate and rapid detection of the WB defect in broiler chicken breast fillets.
E XPLO R IN G FO O D S A FE T Y IN B RO ILE R H O U S E S “Broiler houses are usually at a high risk of microbial cross-contamination, and the initial load of food-borne pathogens may significantly affect the safety of final products,” Food Science professor Tung-shi Huang says, “To maintain an optimal hygiene condition, N-halamines are considered as ideal antimicrobial materials due to their superior antimicrobial efficiency against a broad spectrum of bacteria, low toxicity, high stability, rechargeability of antimicrobial activity, and low cost.” Huang’s lab investigated the antimicrobial activity of 1-chloro2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-4-imidazoidinone (MC), a non-bleaching N-halamine
compound, and its coated materials in broiler chicken houses. In this study, they were able to assess the storage stability and the antimicrobial longevity of MC coated materials such as galvanized metal, aluminum, woods, etc. They found the 0.04% MC solution could kill Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni completely at 106 CFU/mL within 30 min. Even more efficient, the 1% MC coated samples had high antimicrobial activity and killed Salmonella and C. jejuni completely in 2 hours. Their results suggest that MC has a great potential application as a novel antimicrobial agent in broiler chicken houses during production to lower microbial load.
NEW FDA TRAINING helps growers. F R U I T & V EG E TA B L E P R O D U C ER S A N D P R O C E S S O R S T R A I N ED B Y AU B U R N F O O D S A F E T Y E X T EN S I O N T E A M In 2016 the Department of Poultry Science and the Food Systems Institute entered into a funding agreement with NIH and FDA to assist the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries to create an inspection system for the selling of produce. Led by Dr. Jean Weese, Extension Specialist and Professor for the Department of Poultry Science, the new efforts will directly impact food safety efforts across the state of Alabama. “We will be responsible for training the produce inspectors that will go on the farms to do the inspections,” says Weese. This grant project will also assist farmers in getting their farms ready for the FDA inspections. “We will be offering the Food Safety Produce Safety Classes across the state
for the farmers,” she continues, “This class is a requirement to meet the FDA inspection standards.” The applicants of this grant were also tasked to develop a database of all the farms in the state of Alabama that grow produce to sell. Through these efforts researchers and faculty at Auburn University will be working to get safer produce to the public while keeping Alabama farmers in business. To learn more about the Food Systems Institute and their initiatives across campus, visit aufsi.auburn.edu. To learn more about the Food Safety Team and their efforts across the state, visit them online at foodsafety.aces.edu.
E X TE N S I O N S PECI A LI S T S A S S E S S FA RM S ECU R IT Y Auburn Extension specialist Ken Macklin worked with an Alabama broiler company to assess and improve biosecurity on contract broiler farms. Ken and his group surveyed poultry farmers associated with this integrator regarding biosecurity practices; visited a selection of farms to swab for a specific viral disease plaguing the broiler industry during this time period; then worked with company management to explain the results of the survey and discuss where lapses in biosecurity might make the company’s growers vulnerable to disease spread.
S E RV IN G TH E A L A B A M A AV I A N H E A LTH A DV I S O RY B OA R D
AU B U R N H O S T S FE E D IN D U S TRY WO R K S H O P In August 2016, the Department of Poultry Science hosted over 50 feed professionals, who came together for the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance’s Preventive Controls for Animal Food course, held at the Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center on the Charles C. Miller Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center, in conjunction with the American Feed Industry Association. Dr. Charles Starkey, one of the Auburn facilitators along with Dr. Wilmer Pacheco, both professors in poultry science, notes the importance of hands-on workshops where professionals in the industry can come together to network and learn. “Our hopes are that Auburn University can become a pillar of knowledge
and training for the animal food industry,” hes says, “Trainings such as this one help Auburn shine in its abilities and service to the industry.” Participants in the course were able to obtain information necessary to assist them in strengthening their businesses’ compliance with the new FDA regulations. They met face-toface with individuals from Auburn University and the American Feed Industry Association that can give them ongoing support regarding these new regulations. “Workshops like this make the entire food chain safer and healthier for all,” Starkey says.
During 2016, an important viral respiratory disease called Laryngotracheitis (LT) took hold in North Alabama. Extension specialists, including Dr. Joseph Hess, from the Poultry Science Department participated in the Statewide cooperative group that helps coordinate activities when diseases and disease transmission are a worry. The Alabama Avian Health Advisory Board brought together representatives from all Alabama broiler companies to make joint decisions on disease control policy. Poultry Extension representatives participated in conference calls and meetings to provide technical input on practical field control of disease. In addition, the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association tapped poultry Extension staff to speak on biosecurity at quarterly regional poultry farmer meetings based on the heightened disease risk in the state.
WHY FOOD & WATER defense? DR. ROBERT NORTON ADDRESSES CRITIC AL FOOD DEFENSE TOPIC “Food defense” has become an important subject in the age of global terrorism. In fact, the US Department of Homeland Security has designated 16 “critical infrastructure” sectors considered so vital that their incapacitation or destruction would seriously hurt the country, and one of these sectors is food and agriculture. “The food production, processing and distribution systems, whether wholesale or retail, are potential targets that must be hardened rapidly or eventually suffer the consequences,” says Bob Norton, a veterinary microbiologist who chairs the Auburn University Food Systems Institute’s Food and Water Defense Working Group. Dr. Norton chairs the Food Defense Working Group within the Auburn University Food Systems Institute. The Working Group was very active this year, establishing a website (aufsi.auburn.edu/ fooddefense), Facebook (www.facebook. com/fooddefensegroup), and blog, which are designed to rapidly share timely inform about food defense to the food and agriculture industries and the consumer public. Dr. Norton also developed a major national/international Outreach/ Training/education publications effort in the areas of Food Defense and Safety, and “One Health” (animal diseases affecting people). A monthly columnist and blogger with Food Safety Magazine, a major national/international industry publication, Dr. Norton’s publishing efforts reach over 95% of the national and international food processing industry.
TH E FU T U R E O F PRO CE S S IN G AT AU B U R N U N I V E R S IT Y Dianna Bourassa joined the department this year as assistant professor and extension specialist in poultry production and processing. Her vision for poultry production and processing at Auburn University includes multiple levels of outreach and education throughout the state. “Our department will continue to provide up-to-date information regarding poultry processing topics, as well as trouble shooting issues for the Alabama poultry industry,” Bourassa says., “And Auburn’s Poultry Science processing extension programming will be delivered regionally, nationally, and internationally through workshops and presentations.” The future of Auburn poultry processing research is very bright. The Charles C. Miller Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center is slated to house a state of the art pilot processing plant research facility. This facility will be a premier research and teaching resource encompassing everything from arrival of live birds at the plant through final cooked products. The pilot plant will utilize modern equipment with the flexibility to process both larger numbers of birds for yield studies as well as smaller scale experiments focusing on
S U S TA IN A B LE AQ UA P O N I C S
G MO PA N E L S E E K S TO E D U C ATE CO N S UM E R S Poultry Extension was included with Animal Sciences and Extension staff from Alabama A&M University in a number of seminars designed to inform consumers about the use of genetically modified organisms in the production of food from meat and plants. Several seminars were completed with lively discussions from the attendees after the presentations. These programs raised consumer awareness on the topic of GMO’s from a scientific standpoint and discussed other meat production issues where consumers have questions about animal handling.
targeted processes within both primary and further processing. “We’ll continue our reputation for excellence as a sought-after center of expertise in the areas of processing, animal welfare and food safety,” says Bourassa, “My research will focus on areas including stunning, animal welfare and the impact of primary processing parameters on pathogen control and carcass yield.” Dr. Bourassa has also reinstated the Worthwhile Operational Guidelines and Suggestions (W.O.G.S) monthly newsletter, originally created by former professor and extension specialist, Sacit Bilgili. This newsletter is distributed electronically and covers current and relevant topics that impact poultry processing. Each newsletter provides valuable information in a quick and easy-to-read format, encouraging comments and requests for future topics from readers. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit www.poul.auburn.edu/outreach/wogs.
Waste water from farm-grown tilapia can be an excellent resource for greenhouse produce production.
Researchers in our department and across campus are collaborating to develop a revenue-generating production process for farmers engaged in aquaculture, who invest a significant amount in fish feed, but discard the waste water. Current projects are now testing the usability of that waste-water in greenhouse-based production of tilapia and vegetable crops. Because waste-water from tilapia production tank is being used for produce production, the microbiological quality of the water is very important. Complying with the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) this produce irrigation water will be analyzed for E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. This microbiological monitoring is performed twice a month which can offer year-round microbial distribution information.
“THE FIVE MONTHS I SPENT ABROAD WERE the best months of my life; THEY OPENED MY EYES TO CULTURES AND CUISINES THAT WILL FOREVER HOLD A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART.” F O O D S C I E N C E J U N I O R , M A R Y J O TO O H E Y, S T U D I E D A B R O A D I N I TA LY, F R A N C E A N D S PA I N I N 201 6
WE’VE GOT FOOT PRINTS ACROSS THE GLOBE! DURING THE 2015-16 ACADEMIC YEAR, 10 STUDENTS FROM THE POULTRY AND FOOD SCIENCE PROGRAMS STUDIED ABROAD IN CHINA , CUBA ITALY, FRANCE AND SPAIN.
H O N D U R A N S T U D EN T S A N D I N T ER N S C H O O S E AU B U R N The exchange program between Auburn and Zamorano University was founded in 2016 and thrives in our department. It will continue growing in 2017 to include more faculty involvement and student interns and graduate students. Dr. Wilmer Pacheco facilitates this program, welcoming Honduran interns and students to study at Auburn for about 15 weeks taking courses and responsible for their own projects. Exchange student Ada Madrid of Honduras says, “I chose Auburn for it’s nationally recognized programs in production, and I’m excited to attend in the Spring, because I know the internship is a valuable professional experience.”
D EPA R TM EN T CO L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H C U B A O N P O U LT R Y H E A LT H A N D M A N AG E M EN T P R AC T I C E S TA K E S O F F A 2 year grant was provided by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station to begin the first of its kind collaboration with 2 institutions in Cuba on poultry production. Poultry Science Professor, Dr. Joseph Giambrone, visited CENSA and the Universidad Agraria de la Havana, in 2015 to set up a program for collaboration on aspects of commercial poultry and backyard flock health and management. We visited Cuba in 2016 to lecture on the detection, prevention, and control of HP AIV, which Cuba has keen interest in, as well as other important diseases, management, feed milling, and nutrition. Meetings were attended by poultry
researchers and farmers from all over the country. In July of 2017, Drs. Alfonso and Perera will visit Auburn to learn laboratory techniques needed for the isolation and characterization of AIVs and present a poster at this AAAP meeting on their composting experiments. In 2017, we will return to Cuba and visit waterfowl hunting refuges to obtain samples from hunter-killed ducks for AIV detection and characterization. Collaboration with Cuba is important for both countries, as the migration of waterfowl back and forth from the US to Cuba increases the transmission possibilities of AIV. Working together, researchers can better address these concerns.
2016 IN COM E & E XPE N D IT U R E R E P O R T S 1% OTHER 14% GIFTS, CONTRACTS & GRANTS
12% RESEARCH EXPENSES 3% DEPARTMENT EXPENSES
4% OTHER
13% FARM OPERATIONS
3% AUXILIARY
IN COME
79% STATE APPROPRIATIONS
I N CO M E R EP O R T
E XPEN SE S
71% SALARIES & BENEFITS
E X P EN S E R EP O R T
In 2016, the total funding for the Department was $5,417,000.
Total departmental expenditures for 2016 totaled $5,370,000,
As shown above, the majority was state appropriated. This support
which indicates we operated on balanced budget for the year. As
comes via Auburn University instruction, Alabama Experiment
expected the primary expenditure was salary and benefits; while,
Station, or Alabama Cooperative Extension System funds.
farm and research expenses represent major categories, as well.
The remaining department income is derived from extramural sources.
Overall, the Department remained in sound financial condition.
This funding scenario has remained fairly steady over past years.
THIS ANNUAL REPORT IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART WITH SUPPORT FROM THE US POULTRY & EGG FOUNDATION.
THIS IS OUR WORK O U R D E PA R TM E NT TH R I V E S WITH S U PP O R T O F S TA KE H O LD E R S LIKE YO U.
Thank you. The Department is strongly committed to excellence and to serving the poultry and food industries in Alabama and beyond, and 2016 was a monumental year in establishing new capabilities to advance this mission. In the past year we saw new facilities, new faculty, increased enrollment and new programs. This advancement will help us realize the vision of becoming the premier poultry science-food science program. Your continued support is instrumental in achieving this vision. Thank you for your interest, encouragement and support, and as always‌ WAR EAGLE!
#ThisIsOurWork AUBURN UNIVERSIT Y IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNIT Y ED U C AT I O N A L I N S T I T U T I O N/E M PLOY ER .