Company pledges financial support for new facility at Mississippi State University
For Aviagen North America, an investment in youth and education is an investment in the sustainability of the global poultry industry. Putting its commitment to social sustainability into practice, the company recently pledged financial support earmarked for a new poultry feed mill to be located at the Mississippi State University (MSU) H. H. Leveck Animal Research Center. MSU is one of the six universities in the United States with stand-alone poultry science departments.
The new modern facility with leading-edge features and equipment will produce biosecure feed for the university’s research flocks, as well as nutrition trials and feed formulation trials. Located on MSU’s Poultry Science research farm, the mill will include a 4,950 square-foot process area, a 2,250 square-foot bagged ingredient and finish feed storage area, and an additional 2,720 square feet in ancillary support areas.
It will provide hands-on training for MSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students, as well as continuing education opportunities for industry mill managers. It will also be used for research in the university’s Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
“We pride ourselves in providing our students with practical, hands-on learning experiences to complement classroom learning. This investment allows us to do that, increasing student preparedness for employment upon graduation, while also allowing us to better serve the poultry industry through enhanced research and feed milling workshops,” said Dr. Kelley Wamsley, associate professor of nutrition and feed manufacture for MSU’s Poultry Science department.
Poultry is the No. 1 agricultural commodity in Mississippi, contributing nearly US$2.7 billion to the state’s economy in 2021 and ranking fifth nationally in broiler production. Mississippi State has a strong relationship with the poultry industry and works to assist the growing enterprise through education, research and outreach.
“Our Poultry Science graduates enjoy 100% job placement, which means we are doing our part in preparing them for careers of making a difference in the exciting world of poultry,” said Mary Beck, former head of MSU’s Poultry Science department. “We share with Aviagen a commitment to the future of our industry, and we thank them for this generous contribution to our state-of-the-art feed mill.”
“Aviagen is honored to contribute to MSU’s Poultry Science Research Farm and the great development and innovation that takes place there,” said Marc de Beer, president of Aviagen North America. “Training our next generation of leaders is among the most important work we can engage in. Our motto at Aviagen is, ‘to breed the best, we need the best,’ and MSU and Aviagen have the common goal of securing the sustainability of the industry by finding and encouraging creative up-and-coming professionals. These future leaders have a passion for feeding the world with affordable, nutritious chicken meat, while creating efficiencies that promote the sustainability of our environment and the economic sustainability of poultry growers around the world.”
