Registration and hotel reservations for attendees to PEAK 2025 – powered by the Midwest Poultry Federation – open Wednesday, December 4 at www.midwestpoultry.com.

Show dates are April 8-10, 2025 at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. PEAK is the nation’s largest trade show and convention in North America focused exclusively on the business and food production of poultry. PEAK 2025 offers a variety of education, networking and trade show activities that bring the poultry industry together.

Included in all PEAK registration fees

• Multi-State Poultry Feeding & Health Conference on Tuesday, April 8
• Education tracks for turkeys, egg layers, broilers, and (NEW track) poultry diseases on Tuesday, April 8
• NEW in 2025 – PEAK-Cargill Education Theater, with a variety of topics and speakers running all day Wednesday, April 9 and half-day on April 10
• Business and Leadership Track for leadership and professional development – exact schedule to be announced in early 2025
• PEAK’s Exhibit Hall – open 10am-5pm on Wednesday, April 9 and Thursday (half day), April 10

Don’t forget – PEAK Unhatched is back and will be better than ever!

• PEAK Unhatched: An Evening of Eats and Entertainment takes place opening night at PEAK – Tuesday, April 8 starting at 5:00 pm. at the Minneapolis Convention Center; tickets are $50/person (in advance or $100/person the day of the event) and include a full bar all evening, an abundance of food, and the Bluewater Kings Band, a high energy ensemble that will be epic!

“PEAK 2025 is the ultimate destination for anyone in the poultry industry looking to stay ahead of the curve. With our expanded Education Theater offering up to 30 presentations and a trade show floor showcasing the latest innovations, PEAK is where connections are made, knowledge is shared, and solutions are found,” said Lisa Henning, President of MPF. Henning works for Henning Companies, a long-time exhibitor at the show. “Don’t miss this opportunity to grow your business and your expertise in one powerful event.”

PEAK’s long-time partnering events include:

• Organic Egg Farmers of American Symposium (April 8) – NEW in 2025, you will be able to add a registration ($40/person in advance) for this event via the PEAK registration process – click here for information
• Devenish Nutrition Symposium (April 8 by invitation only) – click here for information
• North Central Avian Disease Conference (April 7-8) – separate registration process or this event; click here for information

Registration fees for PEAK 2025 are as follows:

• Attendee (includes all live production – farmers, processing companies, hatcheries, breeders; government personnel; academic personnel; poultry nonprofit organizations; and spouses of paid registrants) – $50 in advance / $100 at the door
• Supplier (non-exhibiting vendors of the poultry industry) – $400 in advance / $800 at the door
• Students (2-year, 4-year, and technical schools as well as youth accompanying parent/paid adult) – complimentary

Details on all PEAK events, education program, and the list of exhibitors are available at www.midwestpoultry.com.  You may also contact MPF with any questions at info@midwestpoultry.com or 763/284-6763.

About the PEAK and MPF

Midwest Poultry Federation (MPF), a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization, was founded in 1971 and held its first convention in Minneapolis in 1972. MPF’s primary purpose is to host an annual convention emphasizing on-farm poultry production. The convention’s goal is to offer cutting-edge information to attendees through a balanced offering of exhibits and educational workshops.

PEAK stands for Profitability, Experience, Advancement and Knowledge – MPF’s promise to attendees is to always provide these four keys to unlocking success for your business.

In 2024, PEAK welcomed nearly 3,300 attendees and exhibitors to its show. All revenue (after expenses are paid) generated by PEAK is given back to MPF’s member state poultry organizations and also donated to various poultry organizations, like the Midwest Poultry Consortium and the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference.

We may call ourselves the Peach State, but when it comes to raw numbers, poultry is unquestionably the king of Georgia agriculture.

And the chicken business is booming.

On an average day, Georgia farmers produce 30 million pounds of chicken, 7.8 million table eggs, and 6.5 million hatching eggs, contributing more than $25 billion to the state economy every year.

For decades, researchers in the University of Georgia’s Department of Poultry Science have worked at the forefront of the discipline, and their innovations in genetics, nutrition, and disease prevention have transformed the industry both at home and abroad.

Now, scientists working in this critical field will reach even greater heights thanks to the addition of a new state-of-the-art Poultry Science Building on UGA’s main campus. The $54.1 million, five-story structure comes equipped with more than 70,000 square feet of research and instruction space that will allow students,

Opening New Doors

The original Poultry Science Building opened during the Eisenhower administration on East Campus Road. It hosted one of the state’s most important departments for more than half a century, but the facility was not keeping pace with the work being done inside.

“Issues facing the poultry sector have grown inordinately complex. Faculty in our prior space were mostly within their own labs,” says Todd Applegate, chair of the Department of Poultry Science. “In our new building, we have clustered faculty into six thematic areas to face these current and future issues. Additionally, this environment allows our students a more robust experience garnering different research perspectives.”

Every classroom, student innovation space, and research lab in the new Poultry Science Building has been planned down to the individual chair. It includes massive, modular classrooms that give students comfortable spaces to learn, plus a basement facility where chicks and hens of all ages and sizes can be cared for. The walls are adorned with local, chic farm art, and the frosted doors feature environmental patterns that reflect the industry. That’s largely thanks to the support of donors and alumni, who had valuable experiences of their own in poultry science.

We wouldn’t be able to have a Chick-fil-A sandwich for under $9.50 if we didn’t make the progress that we do in our departments.” — Andrew Benson, associate professor in poultry science

Hands-on, innovative education is a cornerstone of the new building and the program it houses. For example, associate professor Andrew Benson BSA ’02, PhD ’06 incorporates lessons in anatomy and surgical demonstrations into his courses, lessons that would be difficult to teach in regular laboratories.

Benson aims to show students the real-world implications of their studies. His own work, which centers on fertility improvements, has allowed farmers to significantly increase the number of healthy chickens hatched and raised for the poultry industry.

Associate professor Andrew Benson hosts “Hug a Chicken Day” for his Introduction to Poultry Science class. (Photo by Peter Frey/UGA)

“Every one of our labs is engaged with research that is addressing a need or opening up future endeavors for the poultry industry,” Benson says. “We wouldn’t be able to have a Chick-fil-A sandwich for under $9.50 if we didn’t make the progress that we do in our departments.”

Benson utilizes two different 1,500 square-foot learning labs lined with microscopes, incubators, and other scientific tools to help students participate in the research process. That’s just a few floors beneath two new, specialized research labs at the ready for students and faculty.

“I get to teach the course that I fell in love with, and that’s really why I like the new building the most,” he says. “Everything that I fell in love with about this department is still intact. Now, it just has a prettier face.”

A New Generation of Poultry Scientists

It’s not just the prestige of the new building that keeps poultry science alumni involved with the department.

Outreach specialist Sarah Beth Kersey (center) convenes with students (from left to right) Jalen Potter, Anna Thomas, Cooper Mattox, and Tianna Ramey in the foyer of the new Poultry Science Building. (Photo by Peter Frey/UGA)

Sarah Beth Kersey BSA ’24 was in eighth grade when she and her class toured UGA’s old poultry science building on a field trip.

“I fell in love with the department,” Kersey says. “After the open house, I was completely set on coming to UGA and studying poultry science. We are bringing that strong community forward, and the new building is the icing on top of the cake.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree in poultry science, Kersey wanted to give back by reaching out to the next generation. She’s doing just that as a communications and outreach specialist for the department while also pursuing a master’s degree in agricultural education in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“Education is the common goal for my job. Being able to apply what I learned in the classroom about poultry and then show how it works in daily life is really big. I think it adds a unique aspect of poultry science—learning, then helping people expand their knowledge,” she says.

Associate professor Brian Kiepper MS ’03, PhD ’07 knows something about building up future poultry scientists. As the teacher behind a very popular introductory course in the field, he instructs 350 students every semester.

“My whole focus is for our students to understand how agriculture changed it all,” says Kiepper. “When they leave the University of Georgia as a doctor, lawyer, teacher, engineer, or whatever, they can be that because of agriculture. They couldn’t if somebody else didn’t take on the responsibility of creating those calories you need to survive.”

Kiepper can be creative in his teaching. For instance, in his First-Year Odyssey Seminar, “Chicken Que: Science Behind the Grill,” students prepare, flavor, and cook their own meals from scratch to truly understand the farm-to-table perspective.

It’s a creative way to learn about such an important industry beyond just numbers and slides. With the minds of the poultry science department and the capabilities of the new building, Georgia’s poultry leadership is well positioned to grow.

“When you see our new building, it really is a place to show people what we do,” Kiepper says. “With the old building, we had to entice people into poultry science. Now, with the new building, it’s almost like it makes that stamp itself.”

Abit Massey – A Lifetime of Leadership: A key component of the new poultry science building is the Abit Massey Classroom. Massey BBA ’49, who died in June, was a poultry industry giant, a beloved entrepreneur, and a strong UGA supporter. Following his graduation from the Terry College of Business, Massey’s tenure as executive director of the Georgia Poultry Federation made Georgia the poultry leader it is today. The classroom, adorned with a large display and official lettering, is dedicated to his memory, and it recognizes his role in making the university and the state a leader in the poultry sector. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)

Source: The University of Georgia

A listeria outbreak connected to ready-to-eat meat and poultry items from Yu Shang Food Inc. has led to 11 confirmed illnesses across four states, including nine hospitalizations and the tragic death of an infant, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Yu Shang Food, based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is recalling over 72,000 pounds of its products due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The recall covers all ready-to-eat meat and poultry products manufactured before October 28. These items were distributed to retailers nationwide and sold online, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reported.

The contamination was identified during routine testing by the FSIS last month. Genetic sequencing is ongoing to determine if the bacteria in the recalled products matches the strain responsible for the outbreak.

So far, the CDC has recorded seven cases in California, two in Illinois, and one each in New York and New Jersey. Investigators interviewed eight affected individuals, seven of whom reported shopping at markets where Yu Shang products were sold. Two specifically recalled consuming Yu Shang’s ready-to-eat chicken.

The CDC shared a heartbreaking update from California, where a pregnant woman and her twins became ill. Unfortunately, both infants passed away. While listeria bacteria were detected in the mother and one of the twins, no bacteria were found in the second twin. Therefore, only the mother and one twin are counted among confirmed cases. Another infant was also infected but has since recovered.

In a statement to CNN, Yu Shang Food acknowledged the woman’s report of consuming their products but emphasized that no direct evidence links their items to the illnesses.

Health officials caution that the actual number of cases may be underreported, as some individuals recover without seeking medical care. Moreover, linking illnesses to outbreaks often takes several weeks.

Consumers are urged to discard or return any recalled products immediately and to clean surfaces or containers that may have been in contact with the food. Listeria can survive in refrigerated environments, making proper cleaning critical.

Listeriosis, caused by Listeria monocytogenes, ranks as the third leading cause of death from foodborne illnesses in the U.S. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, fatigue, and sometimes severe complications like stiff neck, confusion, or seizures. Those most vulnerable are older adults, pregnant women, and individuals with weakened immune systems.

Anyone who develops symptoms after consuming the affected products should seek medical attention promptly.

Source: CNN