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National Poultry Extension Workshop |
USDA, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES), Plant and Animal Systems (PAS) 800 9th Street, SW, Room 3140 Waterfront Centre, Washington, DC 20250-2220
Correspondence: 1 Corresponding author: rreynnells{at}csrees.usda.gov
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SUMMARY |
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New procedures for USDA grants and deadlines can be found on the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) Web site. The CSREES/Plant and Animal Systems (PAS) review of their portfolio on animal health and welfare resulted in an outstanding evaluation (95/100). Increasing demands for accountability require increased documentation by all persons in our system. Michigan State and Purdue University are providing leadership in several animal welfare educational areas, including assessment and distance education programs. The Texture Technologies Corporation Support Personnel Award recipient is JoAnna Tharrington Foegeding, North Carolina State University. This award will be sponsored by Tyson Foods, Inc. in 2006. We are achieving impressive results through cooperation and networking, which are of increasing importance. Continued teamwork and increased participation in multistate research committees is essential.
Key Words: animal welfare and behavior • multistate research committees • support personnel award • meetings • portfolio evaluation
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INTRODUCTION |
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TOPSUMMARYINTRODUCTIONDISCUSSIONCONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONSREFERENCES AND NOTES |
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DISCUSSION |
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TOPSUMMARYINTRODUCTIONDISCUSSIONCONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONSREFERENCES AND NOTES |
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USDA/CSREES
In February 2005, Gary Sherman, DVM, PhD, joined the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) Plant and Animal Systems Unit as National Program Leader for Veterinary Science. Gary comes to us from FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, Division of Human Food Safety, where he served in several capacities and was the subject matter expert in microbiology, reproductive physiology, developmental toxicology, and molecular biology. His current responsibilities include animal health research, education and extension, and management of the 1433 federal funding program. Along with Robert Smith, Gary provides leadership relating to agricultural counterterrorism.
We lost David Morris, DVM, to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service where he will coordinate animal identification programs. David’s duties here included coordination of programs with extension veterinarians, and he made exceptional contributions to the recently completed animal protection portfolio review.
Responsibilities
Swine Well-Being Project
The National Swine Alternative Housing and Well-Being educational/training project [1] has been completed. The package consists of an extensive literature review on alternative housing for swine, the 2002 symposium proceedings, and a DVD that uses discussions by producers to provide information on alternative housing for swine. Contact Ed Pajor (Purdue University) or the author for more information or copies of the DVD/CD series.
Department Reviews
Department reviews are an important part of the job, and are assigned through the CSREES system. April 30 was the deadline for university administrators to submit requests for department or other reviews. However, this has become a more flexible schedule, and reviews now tend to be scheduled throughout the year.
Multistate Research Committees
The USDA/CSREES liaison responsibilities continue to be with several multistate research projects: 1) NCR-131 (TEMP 1981), Applied Animal Behavior and Welfare; 2) S-292 (SDC 311), The Poultry Food System: A Farm to Table model; 3) W-195 (SDC 321), Water Quality Issues in Poultry Production and Processing; 4) NE-1022, Poultry Production Systems: Optimization of Production and Welfare Using Physiological, Behavioral, and Physical Measurements; and 5) WERA-204 (TEMP 1361), Animal Bioethics.
The W-195, Water Quality Issues in Poultry Production and Processing committee met in Holland and Germany for the 2004 annual meeting. The meeting was held November 9 in Wageningen, The Netherlands. Mike Hulet, 2004 Chair, did an excellent job in providing leadership in coordinating the site visits, Eurotier-Han-over Trade Show visit, and international conference. The trip was exceptional at several educational levels. Mike’s efforts are greatly appreciated. Contact Theresia Lavergne (2005 chair; LA) for details about how to join this important committee.
The NCR-131 (TEMP 1981) is in the process of becoming a full research committee, with the rewrite led by Don Lay, USDA Agricultural Research Service. This conversion is an essential activity that will stimulate greater interest in committee membership. This same process is underway for WERA-204 (Animal Bioethics). These are important committees because they provide opportunities to be involved in emerging issues and provide scientific responses to some of the concerns that will have tremendous impact on all of food animal production. It would be beneficial to your state’s industries and your department if you would consider participation on both these committees.
As discussed in 2004, a significant difficulty with participation in cutting-edge multistate research projects that are at the coordinating committee level (some mistakenly interpret this as being of marginal value), and that involve new areas of science such as integration of welfare and behavior (NCR-131) in research protocols, is the lack of respect provided during promotion and tenure consideration. Animal bioethics (WERA-204) also helps faculty and the animal systems address ethical and other issues of societal concern. These committees also appear to be marginalized regarding financial support in most universities due to their status as being only coordinating committees. This topic should be discussed more broadly during our professional meetings.
The S-292 committee met the day before the 2005 Poultry Science Association (PSA) annual meeting in Auburn. This is an exceptional committee that details their many accomplishments on their Internet site at Auburn University. In 2004 they met in Arkansas at the same time as the W-195 held their meeting in Europe.
The NE-1022 (Poultry Production Systems: Optimization of Production and Welfare Using Physiological, Behavioral, and Physical Measurements) committee was recently approved, and replaced NE-127. They are considering holding their annual meeting in England in 2007, with potential cooperation with WERA-204 and NCR-131. The annual meeting would be in cooperation with a meeting of the International Society for Applied Ethology. This shows the greatly expanding interest in animal welfare and related research topics, which is long overdue. There has been significant research in Europe on animal welfare issues and there is currently strong movement by the World Trade Organization in using animal welfare as an approved trade consideration.
Proposal Review
National Poultry Leaders (NPL) review and approve Hatch Act projects submitted by all institutions participating in the multistate project before funds are released for project support. The NPL are instructed to also make a final review of proposed (new and revisions) multistate projects and affirm that the programmatic goals and objectives are consistent with the Hatch Act, fall within the broad strategic objectives of USDA and CSREES, and that the project should be approved by the Administrator of CSREES. A comprehensive and thorough set of procedures has been established in each region for the development, peer review, and monitoring of progress for each project. The National Information Management and Support System was developed by the state agricultural experiment stations to facilitate the tracking, retrieval, and management of the national portfolio of multistate research projects. The NPL also evaluate CRIS reports to define percentage involvement of the project in specific areas such as animal welfare.
Plans of Work and Accomplishment Reports
Responsibility for the review and approval of state Plans of Work and Accomplishment Reports for research and extension is divided among several NPL. Even for well-written reports the review process is a time-consuming activity, as it is for the state personnel who write the reports. The process can be relatively painless if the person submitting the documents follows the directions. An NPL cannot approve the reports for processing unless the reports meet the criteria provided in the directions.
It is very important that faculty provide solid information to their administrative personnel who prepare the documentation of activities and the impact (return on tax dollar investment) of these investments. There is increasing demand for accountability and these reports are crucial in establishing the value of research and extension programs.
Grant Reviews
The NPL are panel members for various grants administered through CSREES. The most common problems with proposals are that forms are missing, or information on forms is incomplete, incorrect, or inconsistent with other portions of the proposal (e.g., budget numbers do not match the budget narrative). The more grievous problems include replacing quantity for quality of content, not proofreading the proposal (or not even using a spelling checker), vague references to expected outcomes or procedures to obtain data, and not following directions. Even special earmarked funds, which the NPL is responsible for administering, will not be approved if the proposal is deficient. Most proposals in any category of funding are excellent and well written, with only minor problems; however, others require major revisions.
Meetings
National Extension Workshop
The proceedings have been published as an on-site handout for several years because they have been considered a valuable reference, which also documents the high quality of our workshops and numerous regional and national programs. The 2004 workshop proceedings were the last to be published at no charge in the Journal of Applied Poultry Research. Committee members for the 2005 workshop are: Lee Cartwright (TX), Kevin Roberson (MI; now industry), Jacquie Jacob (MN), Curtis Novak (VA; chair and co-editor of the proceedings); Theresia Lavergne (LA; coeditor of the proceedings), Doug Kuney (CA), and Matthew Burnham (TX). We continue to depend on James Rock, retired from the University of Connecticut, who has provided evaluation leadership for many years. On behalf of the attendees, I want to express to committee members our appreciation for the time and expertise they have provided to make our program relevant and a success. Please see me if you want to work on this committee.
Sponsorship is a complex and divisive issue, particularly when committee members are asked to obtain all or a significant portion of the funds needed to support nonmember speaker travel. To many members of professional societies this requirement is not acceptable—they believe that each society’s executive director and board of directors have fundraising responsibilities. This situation, unless well organized and coordinated, may cause hard feelings with members, and with industry personnel who may get requests for low levels of support from several sources. Committee members have to use their goodwill or political capital with industry to ask for a few dollars to support a workshop speaker. This additional request has been stated to reduce their ability to obtain support for their research, extension, or teaching projects. This situation may also inhibit the capacity of the PSA to obtain more significant funding from these industry members. This conflict and pressure may reduce the chair’s ability to find volunteers to be on their organizing committee, or the members will just ignore requests to find donors. Program chairs need formal (written), clear directions and defined responsibilities. If committee members are not able to raise funds (e.g., government personnel cannot participate in this process due to conflict of interest and ethical considerations), other options should be defined.
Future Trends in Animal Agriculture
The purpose of the Future Trends in Animal Agriculture (FTAA) symposium [1] is to create opportunities for positive dialogue between industry, government, and animal activists so that common ground may be identified and important issues addressed. The intent of the symposium is for industry and activist group personnel to better understand the complexity of these issues. Discussions are to promote progress in identifying ways to improve animal well-being, which may also result in a balanced and comprehensive approach to dealing with related societal issues (e.g., environmental, food safety, and rural infrastructure).
After a series of 1-d programs in the late 1980s and early 1990s, FTAA efforts were discontinued. A committee composed of industry, activist group, specialty market representatives, and government recently renewed the concept and programs of the FTAA. They created a successful symposium in September 2002 in Washington, DC, titled "Current Status and Future Expectations of Food Animal Production Standards: Optimizing Animal Well-Being and Social Responsibility." They held a roundtable discussion on May 28, 2003, in Washington, DC, "The Science and Ethics Behind Animal Well-Being Assessments," suggested by Lew Smith, USDA/ARS, and developed by Don Lay, USDA/ARS. The FTAA then developed a symposium for September 17, 2003, "Sharing Costs of Changes in Food Animal Production: Producers, Consumers, Society & the Environment." In 2004, the symposium focus was "Local and Global Considerations in Animal Agriculture: The Big Picture". The 2005 symposium, "Certification and Education Programs: Current Status of Farm Animal Welfare" was held September 21. All meetings are open to the public, with the primary audience being agency decision makers and personnel, and congressional staff personnel and members. Hopefully, the meeting enhanced respect for diverse opinions, and aimed at the goal of animal well-being rather than organizational agenda well-being. Contact the author for a copy of the current or any previous proceedings.
Biobased Plant Nutrient Products: Quality Assurance, Marketing, and Regulations
The purpose of the symposium [1] was to provide a forum for education and discussion of recent advances in quality assurance and marketing of stabilized organic production, and related regulations. In addition, educational material was provided regarding the utilization of biobased products such as compost, as nutrient sources for plants. The workshop discussed cutting-edge topics and emerging issues, and related regulations that affect recycling nutrients from bio-based products. Potential solutions to challenges were prioritized by attendees and were included in the proceedings, along with independently submitted position papers and the PowerPoint presentations from speakers.
The intended audience included regulatory and other personnel from federal and state governments, university educators and researchers, agricultural consultants, and nutrient management specialists. The workshop was held on October 31, 2004, in conjunction with, and with the logistical support of, the Tri-Societies (Crop, Soil, and Agronomy Sciences) annual meeting in Seattle, WA. The workshop was cosponsored by the US Composting Council, USDA Agricultural Research Service, and CSREES.
Southern Region Poultry Extension Workshop (Triennial)
Arlington, TX, was the site of the 2005 Southern Region Poultry Extension Workshop, which now represents all extension regions. The triennial workshop chair was John Carey (TX), and the vice-chair was Ken Anderson (NC). Nonpoultry science personnel are welcome and encouraged to participate in the workshop. The triennial workshop will move to a biennial schedule in 2007.
National Poultry Waste Management Symposium
The 2004 National Poultry Waste Management Symposium (NPWMS) was held October 25–27 in Memphis, TN. This workshop focused on poultry, but the principles and most, if not all, of the environmental issues apply to all animal species. The proceedings were dedicated to the late Lew Carr due to his many years of service to the NPWMS and to the improvement of poultry environmental programs and the transfer of information to the industries.
A transition team has successfully transferred coordination responsibilities to Land Grant University personnel. Mike Hulet (PA) was the coordinator for 2004, with Susan Watkins the coordinator in 2006. We need to formally define another responsible person as coordinator for 2008. The Alabama Poultry and Egg Association has volunteered to assist the organizing committee by being responsible for the financial aspects of the program. We would not have been nearly as successful in our several environmental protection programs over the years without the efforts of Wanda Linker, with support by Johnny Adams at the Association. It is essential for the success of this meeting to have reliable volunteers to head the different committees and personnel to work on the committees. Contact Susan Watkins to help on a 2006 committee or attend the meeting. Many thanks to Mike Hulet for taking on the difficult task of leading during the initial phase of the transition. Contact the author for a copy of the proceedings.
On a sad note, our good friend and colleague Lew Carr, University of Maryland, died in January. Lew was highly productive in several areas, including being a major contributor in the development and maintenance of the NPWMS. We can count ourselves successful if we approach the standards he set and achieved, both as a person and a professional.
US Poultry and Egg Association International Exposition
We hold several organizational meetings at the US Poultry and Egg Association (USPEA) meeting [1] in January each year, and appreciate their continued support. These meetings include: National Poultry Waste Management Symposium, National Egg Quality School, National Egg Products School, several multistate research committees, PSA Extension Workshop, PSA Extension Committee, Triennial Poultry Extension Workshop, and the American Poultry Historical Society (APHS) annual meeting. Contact me if you want to schedule a meeting so it does not conflict with any of these meetings. Everyone is welcome at most of these meetings, particularly the APHS, NPWMS, and extension committees. For other meetings, contact the chairperson. The schedule is always available through e-mail and at the registration desk for the Southern Poultry Science Society annual meeting.
USDA-Related Information
Grants
The new procedures to follow when applying for grants, and release of grant information from CSREES, with application forms and deadlines, can be found at www.grants.gov or http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fundingopportunities/requestforapplications. If you cannot directly access the files, use of an abbreviated address may prove successful.
Portfolio Evaluation
The CSREES has chosen a review of our portfolio of programs as a cogent mechanism to justify our budget requests. One important outcome of the report to the 2004 Animal Science review team was the identification of the need to be able to document and quantify extension programs that are often primarily qualitative in nature. There are efforts in CSREES to evolve a reporting system that is effective and efficient, and that works well for extension, higher education, and research. It is important to note that under today’s climate of increasing demands for accountability by all segments of government, formula funds may not be guaranteed for tomorrow. Having a mechanism to allow the search of a database and create a summary of extension’s impact, preferably in dollars, will significantly improve our ability to defend the need for extension-related (and other) funds at all levels.
In 2004, the Animal Science portion of our portfolio was the first CSREES program area to be reviewed. In 2005, I also participated in the Portfolio 3.2 Animal Protection review. This encompassed animal disease programs and animal welfare efforts by CSREES and their partners. I am pleased to say CSREES and the Land Grant University system received an outstanding score (95/100) from the review team for health and welfare-related programs.
The CSREES Strategic Objective 3.2 focus is to "develop and deliver science-based information and technologies to reduce the number and severity of agricultural pest and disease outbreaks." It includes all the agency’s programs, functions, and funding related to this objective and is part of the total program portfolio that encompasses animal health, animal welfare and animal biosecurity. The CSREES Strategic Plan is fully integrated with the USDA plan; that is, the goals are the same and the CSREES objectives are written to show how the agency uniquely supports the same USDA objectives.
Justification of our existence requires that each of us define the economic and societal impact of our efforts. Ask your industry or other clientele what dollar or other quantifiable value your programs have for individual companies or farmers, or the poultry system in which you work. Include this information in accomplishment reports, success stories, and other documentation of positive impacts of your programs. The days of just "knowing" we have value are over.
Projects
Animal Well-Being Assessment
The animal behavior and welfare group at Michigan State University has received a USDA Challenge Grant to develop a web-based animal welfare assessment course, using interactive media. They also share leadership with Purdue University for the Animal Welfare Judging Contest for college-level students. Students evaluate live animals or CD-based situations of farm animal management and provide their reasoning to judges. Students from four universities participated in 2005. We are attempting to transfer this concept to 4-H and FFA competition as an assessment of food animal husbandry practices. The youth programs would be geared to seniors or juniors in high school, and tied closely to the collegiate assessment contests.
Distribution Lists and Subscription E-Mail Lists
I will continue to rely on e-mail as the primary system to provide information to you. Let me know if you want to be added to any of these lists: animal rights and welfare, game birds, food safety, or those related to the multistate research projects. I am no longer authorized to provide information to you on agroterrorism. Contact me if you think an additional listing would be beneficial to poultry or animal science professionals.
Poultry Science Resource List
Publication of the Poultry Science Resource List (PSRL [2]) is now coordinated by Susan Pollock. It will be updated on a continual or at least yearly basis. The list is available at the PSA Internet site (www.psa.org). To ensure its continued availability, it is important to inform members of the PSA Board of Directors that we appreciate their efforts in continuing this project. If you have information that you want included that will help your program, or when you find errors, please let us know at that time. Send the information to Susan Pollock at PSA Headquarters. The PSRL will be available for review, changes, and comment wherever PSA has a promotional booth.
APHS
The APHS continues to recognize career contributions to the poultry system through the Hall of Fame award, and other contributions by their biennial award through PSA. For information on the Hall of Fame nomination procedure and deadlines, please contact Nick Zimmermann (University of Maryland), who coordinates this award, and is the current president. The APHS welcomes persons at all levels within the poultry system, from industry to students to faculty. You do not need to be a PSA member to join APHS.
PSA 2005 Texture Technologies Corporation Support Personnel Award
The purpose of the Support Personnel award is to acknowledge the long-term contributions by support personnel, and to recognize their work as critical to the ability of faculty to receive the awards for which they are eligible to compete. This award is the only professional-level award of its kind, and supplements any existing university awards. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Texture Technologies Corporation for their support.
JoAnna Tharrington Foegeding was selected as the recipient of the Support Personnel Award for her exceptional contributions to the success of numerous poultry- and food science-related research efforts at North Carolina State University. She supports projects for several faculty members in diverse research areas. The award will consist of a check for $500 and a commemorative plaque.
The 9 individuals nominated for the 2005 award were all exceptionally qualified for the award and had a wide range of backgrounds. Sixteen persons were asked to review the nomination packages, with individuals asked to recuse themselves if any potential for conflict of interest existed or could be inferred. To make the number of observations the same, the top 12 highest scores for each nominee were averaged to determine the award recipient. Nominators are highly encouraged to resubmit their packages for 2006. Others in industry, government, and universities are encouraged to nominate their personnel. It is not clichéd to say that, without reservation, faculty members and other researchers are extremely fortunate to have such high quality personnel supporting their programs. As was the premise for initiating this award, many exceptional people are working in our system and should be recognized for their contributions.
Now that some of the kinks have been worked out of the procedure, Don Beermann and Richard Reynnells have suggested this concept to the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) for their consideration as an ASAS award. It would seem appropriate that the American Dairy Science Association could consider this possibility for their organization. Tyson Foods, Inc. has agreed to take over sponsorship of this important award starting in 2006, and they have provided the same offer to ASAS. We greatly appreciate Texture Technologies Corporation’s sponsorship that got this award off the ground and provided proof of the success and need for such an award.
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CONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONS |
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