University of Kentucky

May 30, 2023

Nath Morris has been named the next president of U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) by the board of directors. He will succeed John Starkey, who will retire in August. Starkey will remain as advisor through the end of the year. Morris has been serving as executive vice president – expo at USPOULTRY. He managed the International Poultry Expo (IPE), part of the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), and recognized by Trade Show Executive magazine as the 22nd largest U.S. trade show. He has been on the USPOULTRY staff since 2014. The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) announced a new partnership with the Information Technology-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC) on the launch of a Food and Agriculture ISAC to enhance cybersecurity for the meat and poultry industry. An ISAC is a non-profit established by critical infrastructure owners and operators to foster information sharing and best practices about physical and cyber threats and mitigation. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new research facility, known as the Forage-Animal Production Research Unit (FAPRU), on the University of Kentucky campus. The ceremony was hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment (UK-CAFE), which will house the new facility. The 59th World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) is set to take place in conjunction with the Livestock Marketing Association’s (LMA) Annual Convention June 7-10, 2023, in Punta Gorda and Arcadia, Fla. A total of 31 semi-finalist auctioneers will compete in the championship event. Reigning World Livestock Auctioneer Champion, Will Epperly, will be in attendance, along with many other former World Livestock Auctioneer Champions. Each will sell cattle during the Parade of Champions, a portion of the WLAC sale between the semi-finalist and finalist rounds. The interviews will be on Friday, June 10, and can be viewed live on www.LMAauctions.com or the LMA Facebook Live starting at 3:00 p.m. (ET). Scientists have collaborated to produce the first gene-edited calf with resistance to bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), a virus that costs the U.S. cattle sector billions of dollars annually. The recent study published in PNAS Nexus results from a collaboration between the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), the University of Kentucky, and industry partners, Acceligen and Recombinetics, Inc. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC) are now accepting applications for spring 2024 public policy internships in Washington, D.C. The internship provides students with the opportunity to work jointly with NCBA and PLC to advance policies important to the beef and sheep industries. Applicants must be a junior or senior undergraduate student, or a graduate student. A background in agriculture or the beef industry is preferred. The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) is pleased to welcome Kim Atkins as its new manager of membership and engagement and Emma Bower as its summer communications intern. In addition, the AFIA adapted the titles of two of its policy staff to better reflect the depth and breadth of work they do for members on a global scale. Gina Tumbarello, who has been with the association since 2011, has been named senior director of global strategies, policy and trade, and Mallory Gaines, who has been with the association since 2019, has been named director of market access and multilateral affairs. Alltech is inviting the global agriculture and agri-food industry to participate in the company’s inaugural Sustainability Insights Survey to gather insights on the issues that matter most to the agri-food value chain’s stakeholders. The survey is now open to the global agri-food industry to provide input until June 12, 2023. The results of this global research will only be presented in aggregate form and will be made available for the benefit of the agri-food industry and its partners later this year.